


Time Paradox

by MsMio



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Punk Band, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-28
Updated: 2018-05-13
Packaged: 2018-10-04 21:52:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 26,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10290956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsMio/pseuds/MsMio
Summary: Max loved Chloe to death, but sometimes her ideas were just plain crazy. Max wanted to become famous with her photos, not with her music.





	1. The Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It all started with a thought.

Max sighs as she stares at herself in the mirror, her leg bouncing and her hands fidgeting with the hem of her sweater. It's been some long, busy five years since they started this, and Max still gets butterflies every time. Kate is somewhere to her left finishing getting dressed, Rachel chatted with Kate as she braided Kate's hair, and Chloe was in the corner tapping out a beat with her drum sticks. A sudden knock at the door makes Max jump slightly.

The door opens and one of their crew members, Rod, pops his head in. "You guys are on in five." He leaves as quickly as he came.

Max sighs again louder this time as she runs a hand through her hair. "Are the moths eating up your stomach again?" Chloe asks.

"You know how I get, I'll be fine the moment we're on the stage," Max said.

"Yeah yeah, the second those lights hit you, you become a fucking badass. I told you from the beginning you were made for this shit." Chloe grins as she stands up and walks up behind Max; she leans down and kisses Max's cheek. "But in my private opinion I totally prefer shy, geeky Max who gets nervous about kissing in public."

Max rolls her eyes, a blush taking up her cheeks. "Come on, Chloe! You're making it worse!"

Chloe grins slyly. "Oh? Am I now?"

Chloe goes to give Max more kisses, but Rachel interrupts her. "As much as I'm loving this, I have to stop it because Max needs to finish up getting ready so we can go."

"Ugh, you're no fun," Chloe said as she pulls away.

Max smiles fondly at the three girls, she never imagined this is how her life would turn out, and she can't see it being any different. She's glad Chloe came up with this crazy idea, and she's glad Kate talked her into it.

* * *

 

**Five years ago.**

Max's fingers lightly strummed the strings of her guitar as she barely sung above a whisper. Kate was at Max's desk writing a paper for English, she would glance at Max every now and then with a soft smile. They've never said it out loud before, but they both love these moments, where they just soak in each other's company without a word. Just Max's gentle music.

Until Chloe kicked open the door.

"Maxi-pad! Bunny! I got an awesome idea!"

Max's hand hits hard across the strings causing a horrible sound. Max sighs, but she can't stop the smile that comes onto her lips as her best friend comes marching in, slamming the door shut with her foot. "Hello to you too Chloe, please come in."

Chloe shoots a wide grin at Max, ignoring Max's sarcasm. "Thanks Max!"

Kate giggles as she turns around in the chair, crossing her arms and resting them on the back of the chair. "Hi Chloe, what's this awesome idea you got?"

"I'm glad you asked, sweetpea." Chloe flings herself onto Max's bed. "We're gonna start a band."

Max's mouth falls open, owlishly blinking at Chloe, and caught between yelling what or telling Chloe to get her dirty boots off of her bed. Thankfully Kate keeps a cool head. She raises up from the chair, goes over to Chloe, and starts to remove Chloe's boots.

"A band huh? What brought on this idea?" Kate asks, placing the boots down at the end of the bed once she gets them off.

Chloe wiggles her sock covered toes. "I was just at home banging away on my drums, and then I was thinking about Max and you, and I was just like, "how fucking cool would it be if we were a band?" and that's when it struck me. We should totally start a band!"

Max sets her guitar aside. "Chloe, I love you to death, but no way."

Chloe is instantly frowning, sitting up on her elbows. "Why not? It doesn't have to be serious, just something we do together for fun since, ya know, we never really do anything together."

"She has a point, Max," Kate said, "and besides it really does sound fun."

Max sighs. "Where would we even play at? I hate to bother Joyce."

Chloe lights up, she hops off of the bed and goes over to Max. "Is that a yes?!"

"A solid maybe," Max said.

"That's a yes!" Chloe said to Kate, a wide grin on her face. "Don't worry Max, we can play while Joyce is at work, and even if she was home I think she'll be cool with us playing."

Max smiles a little. "Alright...alright lets say I do agree to this, what kind of music would we be playing? Last time I checked I don't think an acoustic guitar and a violin are fit for punk."

Chloe chuckles as she sits down on the couch, wrapping her arm around Max's shoulders. "I think we can make it work."

* * *

 

"We need a band name," Chloe said, twirling the drum sticks in her hands.

It's been only two weeks and they have already fallen into a comfortable routine for their little "band." They would go over to the Price household on the weekends and lock themselves away in the garage; playing until David was pounding on the door, or Joyce told them she was going to bed. They haven't really found a sound just yet. Chloe wanted to be all loud and punk, but it was easy for her drums to drown out Kate's violin and Max's guitar so they've stuck to something more soft, or as Chloe had called it "hipster as fuck."

Kate looked up from the sketch book she had been doodling in for their small break. "Have anything in mind?"

Chloe shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know, but it's got to be hella cool."

Kate looks toward Max, who sat quietly writing in her journal. "Max?"

Max hums softly in question as she pauses to look up. "Yeah?"

"Do you have any names in mind for the band?" Kate asks.

A crease appears between Max's furrowed brows, she stares at Chloe with a glare. "I didn't know we were coming up with a name."

Chloe gives her a shit-eating grin. "You got one or not Maxi-pad?"

Max sighs heavily, she glances back down at her journal, tapping the end of her pencil against the ground. A minute or two goes by in silence, and Chloe is about to tell Max to forget it, when Max speaks up. "Time Paradox," Max mumbles it, and Kate and Chloe just barely hear her.

"Time Paradox," Chloe mutters the name herself, humming as she taps her chin with one of her drum sticks. "Yeah...yeah! I like it. Time Paradox, gives us a sort of mystery-fantasy feel. Nice thinking, Super Max."

"Chloe, you said this wouldn't be a serious thing," Max said with a slight pout.

Chloe frowns a bit, she sets her drum sticks down. "Listen Max, I want to do this, I want to make music for the whole world to hear, but I want to make it with you two. Spring break is coming up in a month, I wanna do a concert for it. If it goes bad we'll give up on making this a real thing and just go back to our little jam sessions."

"And if it goes alright?"

A small grin breaks out on Chloe's lips. "Then you best get ready to see our names in lights."

* * *

 

Max still couldn't believe she was doing this despite her strong feelings against the whole band thing. Yet here she sat in her room, hunched over her new notebook and writing an actual fricking song; though Max won't lie that it's a good way to let out her emotions and thoughts. She'll never admit to the fact she's actually been writing this song from the very beginning. Max finishes the last lyric, she leans back with a deep sigh as she read it over.

Now onto the next problem, or problems really.

Max's phone buzzes with a text message, she quickly looks seeing it was Chloe letting her know she was outside. Max packs up her things quickly and then rushes out of her room. When she gets out she sees Kate and Chloe sitting on a bench, their heads lean in close to one another and whispering.

"Hey guys, sorry if I kept you waiting," Max said as she walked up to them. They pulled away immediately, Chloe had this wide, excited grin her eyes shining with glee.

"Mad Max! You ready to rock? Joyce and step-ass left town for the weekend so you guys can crash at my place." Chloe stand ups, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her jeans.

Max smiles. "That sounds great Chloe, let me go get a change of-"

"Don't worry about it." Chloe quickly cuts in. "We can come back later for clothes, besides you're more than welcome to borrow mine."

Max blinks a few times, but she shakes herself out her surprise. "Oh. Okay then."

Chloe nods, and they all stand there for a moment in silence. Chloe turns on her heels and marches off toward the parking lot, Max and Kate easily fall in step behind Chloe.

"So me and Bunny were talking about writing songs," Chloe said, "but I know I'm no wizard with words so we came to an agreement that song writing would be left to her and you."

"Uh, well then, I guess I have good news then," Max said, fidgeting with the strap of her bag.

Chloe looks over her shoulder. "Spill the beans, Super Max."

"I wrote a song."

Chloe trips over her foot, and she would have fallen flat on her face if Kate hadn't been there to catch her. "You did?!"

Max nods meekly, she digs into her bag, and then pulls out her notebook. "I got this just so I could write songs in it."

Chloe carefully takes the notebook, and she flips it open to the first page when the lyrics were written out in Max's hand-writing. Chloe and Kate looked it over in silence, and it filled Max's belly with roaring butterflies. Max rocks on her feet, fidgeting with her bag again as she waits for their judgement.

"Max, this is-" Chloe speaks slowly, "-fucking awesome!" She then suddenly shouts.

Max jumps at the yell, her eyes almost bugling out of her head. "Really? You like it?"

"Like it?! I hella love it! This is so hardcore!" Chloe said.

Kate nods in agreement. "It has a lot of feeling in it. I bet it'll sound really great once we get the music figured out."

"Yeah, but we do got a issue," Chloe said, a frown instantly taking up her face.

Max's joy dissolves into confusion. "Uh, what is it? You said you loved the song so what's wrong with it?"

Chloe blinks a few times, she quickly shakes her head. "No no! It's not the song. The problem is who's going to sing it?"

Oh. That's right. None of them had actually sung during their jam sessions. They were all pretty insecure about their voices; but if they were gonna be serious about this one of them had to step up.

Max sighs, but she gave Kate and Chloe a small smile. "I guess I can do it. It's my song after all."

"You wanna be vocals, are you sure?" Chloe questions with a raised eyebrow.

"Sure, why not. I've gotten compliments about my singing before."

Chloe grins. "Then I guess today you'll be singing for us. I hope you are can handle the attention that comes with being the lead singer."


	2. Surprises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe always has Max's back.

**Five years ago**

March was inching ever so closer, and so was Max's doom. Max's ever growing fear of embarrassing herself at the back of her mind as the days go by. Kate and Chloe tried to reassure her she'll do great, but Max can't help being scared. She may not really care about this whole band thing, but it's important to Chloe, and Max wants to do Chloe proud. Even if Chloe has made it clear she didn't care if the concert is a busted, as long as they had fun and tried to make it serious.

The pillow that had been over Max's face was removed; Max narrows her eyes against the sudden light. Kate's face was hovering above her, her eyes crinkled with a bright smile. "Did you have a good nap, sleeping beauty?"

"I wasn't sleeping," Max said as she sits up.

Kate raised an eyebrow as she backed away a little. "Oh. Well I thought you were since you didn't answer when I knocked."

Max shakes her head with a sigh. "Sorry. I've been in my head all day, I didn't hear you."

Kate smiles softly, she sets the pillow aside as she sits down beside Max; she places her hand on Max's knee. "Max, we told you not to worry. You've got this."

The warmth of Kate's hand is a bit distracting and Max does her best to ignore it by focusing on Kate's soft hazel eyes. "You guys keep telling me that, but it's hard to believe."

"It's okay to have doubts, I have them too, but we need to get over them if we want to make this work." Kate squeezes Max's knee. "Okay?"

"...Okay, I'll try," Max said gently, now trying to force away the heat in her cheeks.

Kate smiles, she removes her hand and instead wraps Max up in hug. "That's all Chloe and me are asking from you."

Max sighs melting into Kate's warm embrace as she returns the hug a bit more tightly than Kate was expecting; Max pulls away first, now smiling a little.

"Um, not to be rude Kate, but why are you here?"

"Oh! I almost forgot," Kate said, her cheeks turning a light pink. "Chloe has a surprise for you."

Max perks up. "And she sent you to tell me because?"

Kate giggles as she stands up, she takes Max's hands and tugs Max up onto her feet. "Because I helped with it."

"What is it?" Max asks as Kate hands over Max's gray jacket.

"It won't be a surprise if I tell you," Kate said with a small smirk.

Max smiles as she slips on her shoes and zips up her jacket. "Alright alright, you know I can't help but be nosy."

Kate takes Max's hand again and leads them out of Max's room. "You're not nosy, you're just very curious."

"A lot of people disagree with that, even Chloe." Max locks her door before following Kate again, retaking her hand.

"Chloe doesn't think that and you know it," Kate said with a slight pout. "And even if she did, she loves every aspect about you."

Max says nothing more, just looks ahead and keeps on walking.

* * *

 

Chloe had been restless in the seat of her car as she drove them back to her place; her eager energy had lifted Max's mood by the time they were finally pulling into the driveway. Chloe turns off the truck, hoping out with a wide grin on her face. "Quick Kate! Blind her!"

"Wha-"

A soft fabric was suddenly darkening her vision, Kate's soft giggle in her ear. Max feels warm, gentle hands carefully guide her out of the truck; Kate's hands leave her for only a moment to close the truck's door. Kate guides her by her shoulders, her breath tickling Max's ear as she whispers. "Sorry about this, but Chloe was very clear about wanting you to be blindfolded."

"Kinky," Max said without thought, and she immediately feels heat crawl up her neck and onto her cheeks.

However, a giggle from Kate relaxes her worries. "Watch your step."

After some fumbling, fuss, and Chloe shouting at them to hurry, they're finally in the garage. Max still blindfolded and Kate still behind Max with her hands on Max's shoulders. Max can hear someone shuffling about, something falling over, and Chloe cussing.

"Okay, you ready Mad Max?" Chloe sounds very close and in front of her.

"Sure?"

"You may restore her eyesight, Kate."

The blindfold falls away from Max's eyes, she squints her eyes from the sudden bright lights. Chloe stood there before her with a wide-excited grin, and Kate comes around from behind Max to stand beside Chloe.

"Ta-da!" And Chloe is holding something out toward Max; and Max's eyes almost bulge out of her skull when she realizes what she's staring at.

It's a guitar, an actual electric guitar; a pure black Gibson with a deer skull painted in white on the upper half of the body. Chloe puts the guitar in Max's hands, and Max fumbled a bit to get a tighter grip in her shocked state. Max looks at Chloe, then at the guitar, then at Kate, and finally back to Chloe.

"I-uh, this is for me?" Max asks uncertain.

"Well of course!" Chloe puts an arm around Kate's shoulders. "I didn't spent two months of my life and hard work to get the money for it just for myself; someone who has no clue how to even play the damn thing."

Max glances down at the guitar, her eyes trailing back up to Chloe as a frown grows on her lips. "I-I can't, Chloe, this is too much I don't even know how to repay yo-"

Chloe holds up a hand, wiggling her index finger at Max. "Ah-ah, no, none of that shit Maxine. You don't have to repay me or whatever bullshit you got going through that thick skull of yours. If it helps think of it as a gift for all the birthdays and Christmases I've missed."

Max hesitantly puts the strap of the guitar around her, and the weight of guitar resting heavily around her shoulder fills her with excitement. She can't stop the smile that breaks out onto her face as she plucks the strings to see if they were tuned; they weren't but that was okay, it'll be fun trying to find the right sound. Then a thought crosses Max's mind. She looks to Chloe to ask how she was going to play without an amp, but she saw her answer.

Chloe had her foot onto of said amp Captain Morgan style, a shit-eating grin on her beautiful face. "You really think I didn't go full out on this?"

"What are you? My sugar daddy?"

"If you want, I don't mind the idea of spoiling you."

"Um, Chloe, aren't you forgetting something?" Kate suddenly said, reminding them both that she was still there.

Chloe claps her hands, stepping off of the amp. "That's right! Thanks for reminding me, Bunny. I fixed your whole 'I wanna be famous for my photos' thing."

Max raises an eyebrow as she goes about to plugging the guitar up. "Yeah?"

"We wear costumes, like masks and stage names, the whole nine yards!" Chloe throws an arm around Kate and pulls Kate tight against her side. "Kate and me are already working on our stage characters."

Kate smiles somewhat bashfully. "It really is a good idea, and throw in a weird voice and no one will be able to tell it's you. It also sounds really fun, to make up a character and dress as them."

Max shakes her head slowly in fondness, a lop-sided grin on her face. "You two are such dorks...I'm totally into this idea."

Chloe laughs loudly, wrapping her arms around Kate's waist, and lifts the poor girl into the air. "I knew she would love it!" Chloe puts Kate back down. "Okay okay. Max, me and you have to do pirates, listen I have a perfect backstory for us..."

* * *

"Pirates Max! Come on, it's our thing! Captain Chloe and First Mate Max!" Chloe shouts toward Max from somewhere else in the junkyard.

Max rolls her eyes and just contiunes on looking through the piles of rusted junk for some kind of inspiration for her stage character. It's been only two days since Chloe has surprised her both with her new guitar and the way for her to keep her identity secret. Kate and Chloe already have a basic outline of their stage characters, but Max is finding herself lacking creativity for hers. She could simply go along with the pirate theme, it was kind of their thing, but Max wanted something unique and different so the band had a misfits feel to it.

Lost in her thoughts Max wasn't paying attention to where she was walking; her foot gets caught on something and before she knows it Max is hitting the ground with a loud yell. After a moment of nursing her scraped hands and knees Max remembers her bag which held her precious camera, and with a quick look her fears were calmed seeing it undamaged. Max frowns as she looks at the thing that tripped her; and she immediately felt her insides twist and she worried she would get sick.

A deer skull rested on the ground on its side, clearly moved by Max hitting it from the few marks it had left in the somewhat muddy ground. Despite her ill feeling at seeing the skull Max couldn't resist the desire to reach out and grab it; the moment Max's fingertips touch the skull she let out a breath in relief at the feel of plastic against her skin. A fake skull, probably used for taxidermy. Max stands up with it in her hands, turning it each and every way with interest; it was missing the lower jaw and half of the left antler was missing, but besides that and a bit of dirt the skull was in somewhat good condition counting where it ended up at.

As Max stares at the skull more and more an idea finally starts to form. A grin stretches wide across her face, and she suddenly runs off to where she last left Chloe and Kate. "Chloe! Kate! I think I've got something!"


	3. The Start of Something

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their first concert.

**Five years ago**.

Victoria sneers first at the flier in her hand, and then at Taylor. "Are you serious?"

"Come on Vic, you make me sit through those shitty animes of yours, you could at least go to one concert I want to see." Taylor crosses her arms, a pout on her face.

Victoria rolls her eyes, but Taylor did have a point. "First off, my taste isn't shitty. Second, I've never even heard of these guys, Time Paradox?"

Taylor seems to light up instantly, she rushs over to her desk, grabs her laptop, and goes back over to Victoria. "I know! They just popped out of nowhere!" Taylor sits down closely to Victoria, she opens up her laptop and focuses on it as she talks. "They've got accounts on Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, but there's not a lot of stuff on any of them."

"But what are they, Sweet-T? Indie, pop, rock? If they're heavy metal I'm totally not going, I don't understand how you like that shit." Victoria frowns at Taylor as she watches Taylor type something into Google.

"Chill, they're pop punk...I think. Look, they're really vague about their genre, but it was something in the punk area." Taylor suddenly placed her laptop on Victoria's lap. "Anyways, this is their Instagram, I think this'll be your fav since they got a really good photographer."

Taylor wasn't wrong. One picture was of a person standing with their back toward the camera, the ocean and sky their background, a navy blue pirate like-trench coat caught blowing in the breeze; their hair hidden by a tricorne and a bright blue bandana. Another picture of a person with their back-once again-facing the camera, but they were covered completely by a white robe and black-tattered angle wings hang limply and broken down their back; this fallen angel stood on a cliff edge. One photo even had them together; the angel on her knees with her face covered mostly up by long strips of white cloth, soaked to the bone by the rain and dressed in a thin, white sundress. The pirate's head was cut off in the photo, but she towered over the angel, protecting the angel from the rain by placing her trench coat over the angel's head.

"This one is the best-in my opinion," Taylor said as they came to the last picture.

It was a shot of a dark forest, rays of moonlight breaking through the tops of the trees. At first Victoria saw nothing, but then she finally sees something in the background. A deer skull staring directly into the lens of the camera, the shadows of the forest hid the body of the person and the moonlight just barely catches their head.

"It's super creepy, but it's the only picture of their guitarist and lead vocals. She calls herself Jane Doe."

"What a fucking loser," Victoria whispers, and she can't look away. "...When is this concert?"

* * *

 

Max feels like she's about to throw up. She hadn't expected so many people to take interest into the fliers that had appeared around town, but here she sat in photography class seeing Stella and Alyssa excitedly talk about Time Paradox. Max lets out a low whine just as Kate sat down beside her.

"Are you alright, Max?" Kate places her hand on Max's upper back, rubbing small-soothing circles.

"No, I thought we would only get maybe twenty, or thirty people to show for the concert, but it looks like half the school is gonna come." Max leans close to Kate, whispering so no one else heard her. "I don't think I can do this."

Kate's hand slides down to Max's waist, her other hand coming up to rest on Max's shoulder. "I understand, I'm scared too."

Max looks at Kate, and her face heats up realizing just how close their faces are. "Really? You don't act like it."

"Well, someone has to keep a brave face," Kate said with a small smirk. "You can be nervous, but you need to have faith in yourself, Max, or you'll always be scared."

Max looks away, a small smile appearing on her face. "There's that Kate Marsh wisdom, always unexpected yet always comes out at the perfect time."

Kate rolls her eyes, she softly bumps her forehead against Max's temple. "You don't know, I could've just stolen that from a movie, or the Bible." Kate whispers, her breath tickling Max's ear.

The class goes by rather quickly, upsetting Max far more than it should have. When the bell rang signaling the end of class and day Kate eagerly rushes Max to pack up. They hurry out of Blackwell and to the bus stop; when the bus shows up they get on and take a sit in the far back.

"Closer and closer." Kate takes Max's hand. "I'm kind of...giddy."

"I still feel like blowing chunks," Max mumbles.

Kate squeezes Max's hand gently. "If you do I'll hold back your hair, just don't throw up on me."

Max chuckles. "I threw up on Chloe once, I had just gone on my first roller coaster ride. After I threw up on her we were both quiet for like a solid ten minutes, and then she just whispers "this'll make our friendship stronger" and she hugged me."

Kate puts her free hand over her mouth, her shoulders shook, a snort escapes her. She calms down after a few minutes. "That was random, but I guess that shows just how unbreakable your guys' friendship is."

"I think that just shows how dumb we are," Max said, a slight smirk on her lips.

"No, it means you two would do anything for each other...You did agree to starting a band with her."

"So did you...Actually, you jumped on board with the idea right away, I expected you to resist more than me."

Kate sheepishly looks away. "I may have helped her with the idea."

Max's eyes widen and her mouth falls open. "Oh my dog, you two planned this from the beginning!?"

Kate smiles meekly. "If it makes you feel better it took Chloe begging on her knees to get me to agree."

* * *

 

Chloe didn't think she would get nervous about this whole thing, but she was. She could hear the crowd from their little make-shift dressing room, and the constant noise was making her restless. Chloe stops her pacing, turning sharply on her heels to check on Max and Kate. Max had finally finished dressing up while Chloe was lost in her mind; she was right now helping Kate with the last bits of her costume.

Chloe takes a deep breath, fakes a grin, and holds out her arms wide. "This is it! You guys ready to rock?"

Max finishes the final knot on the final strip of cloth that wrapped around Kate's eyes. "I guess so, you ready Kate?"

Kate lifts the cloth up so she can see for now. "Yes. Remember Max, you've got this, everything will be okay."

"I know, I know. I guess no more stalling then." Max steps up to Chloe. "You okay?"

"What? Yeah! Why wouldn't I be okay?"

Max smirks. "You're a terrible lair. It's okay Chloe, we're all nervous."

Chloe lets out a long sign. "Yeah, we are, and I'm the idiot who pushed us into doing this."

"No you didn't," Max said, "we all signed up willingly. We have only ourselves to blame for rushing into this, but hey I can't see myself doing this with anyone else but you two; and I'm glad I'm doing this with you guys."

"...Shit Max, don't make me cry before we go on stage."

* * *

 

"I'm starting to regret this." Victoria snarls as another person pushes into her.

Taylor ignores Victoria as she fights through the crowd to get to the front. "Oh shush! When the music starts up you'll love it, trust me!"

Victoria rolls her eyes, but keeps quiet as she delivers a sharp elbow to a man who was getting too close for comfort. They finally get to the front where the stage was only a few inches away from them. Victoria saw no railing or big-burly men to keep people from jumping up onto the stage, and that worried Victoria.

Victoria leans in close to Taylor so she can hear her over the crowd. "Is this gonna be safe?"

"Chill, Vic, I think I saw Madsen earlier when we came in."

"What?! are you serious?"

Taylor nods. "They probably hired him as security." The lights suddenly darken on the stage and Taylor gasps. "It's starting!"

The crowd around them go dead quiet expect for a few cheers. A minute past by in silence before; and then a drum starts to play, it's a deep, slow repeating note that shakes Victoria's chest. Then a violin joins in surprising a lot of people, it's haunting sound setting the mood of the song; the drum and violin blended well together and created a peaceful, sad melody. It was broken by the sharp whine of a guitar.

The lights flash on revealing the three figures that now stood on stage. The pirate was on drums, her face hidden by a bright blue bandana around her lower face, black makeup smudged around her eyes. The angel stood off to the right, dressed in her white robe with the hood up, she was posed elegantly with her violin resting on her shoulder. Victoria had to do a double-take when she realized the girl was playing blind, long strips of cloth wrapped around her lower and upper face, only the bridge of her nose and a bit of her cheeks weren't covered.

Then there was Jane Doe dead center in all of her creepy glory. She was wearing that deer skull from her photo, her lower face and neck painted black; she wore a tattered-black sweater that showed off her freckled stomach, black jeans with large holes on the knees, and black sneakers. She leans into the mic. "Welcome to the Black Castle." Her voice was low and airy, but Victoria swears she sounds familiar.

Victoria's thoughts were cut off as Jane immediately starts to play after her words, the guitar rattled Victoria's bones with its angry wailing. The drums quickly join in setting a fast, harsh beat that makes Victoria's heart race.

The song calms down after a few seconds, the drummer taking on the slow, low beat she had the beginning and the violin joins back in. Jane grabs onto the mic stand and leans back in.

_"Fear lingers in the corridors, voices echoing from behind closed doors._

_The blood is washed away, but feelings can't be erased!"_

Victoria can feel the energy of the room picking up, everyone starting to really get into the song now hearing the very punk-like vibe the band was giving. Even Victoria was somewhat enjoying it, Jane Doe had a surprisingly good voice, somewhat raspy and not too high-pitched.

_"The nobles are sharpening their blades, the Queen turns her face._

_Do they think this is a game?"_

The song turns sharply once more, rage fueling every note.

_"Welcome to the Black Castle!_

_You won't be staying for long!"_

* * *

 

"That was fucking awesome!" Chloe has Max caught up in a tight hug, swaying them side to side as she laughs. "Dude! They were going crazy just after the first song! Which, nice work Ma-I mean, Jane Doe," Chloe suddenly deepens her voice when she sees a few people approaching them. "I didn't think ya would rock it that hard. Keep working on those songs."

They were outside right now, their concert had ended ten minutes ago and while most people had left some had stayed behind in hopes of talking with them. Apparently those people had finally found them. Kate quickly pulled down the strips of cloth that hide her eyes and she pulls her hood back up. Chloe pulls her bandana back up around her lower face. Max was thankfully she hadn't taken off the deer skull.

The group was about a foot away now and Chloe calls out to them with her deepen voice. "Well well! It looks like we got ourselves some fans!"

The group, which Max now realizes was mainly made up of Vortex Club members, pause for a second before they close the gap between them. Max's eyes widen a bit when she sees Victoria within the group.

"Um hi." Taylor is the one who steps up, smiling shyly at them. "I just wanted to say your show was awesome, though it's too bad you only had one original song. It was really good."

"Thanks! Janey here is the one who wrote it." Chloe throws an arm around Max's shoulders. "The name's Captain Blue if you didn't already know. This here is Jane Doe, real quiet one she is. and this is-" Chloe grabs Kate's hand and gently pulls her close. "-Saint Alice, the sweetest thing you'll ever meet, a real angel from the heavens, Jesus herself!"

"They get it Blue, you can stop embarrassing me," Kate said, making her voice very air and soft, almost hard to hear. "We're glad you liked the concert, we weren't too sure if my violin would make the cut."

Taylor quickly jumps in. "I thought it was cool! You don't really see people using violins for punk music."

Chloe gives Kate's hand a tiny squeeze. "See? I told you people would love it. Anyways, thanks for coming out, do you all want something before we head back in to pack up?"

Taylor and two other girls instantly step up for autographes, stunning the hell out of them, but they do so with numbed senses. Chloe was about to bid them fair well when Victoria takes a few hesitant steps forward. Everyone silently watches as she goes up to Max.

"Could you sign...my jacket?"

Max blinks a few times, and she was elbowed out of her fried state by Chloe. "Oh! Um yeah." Max was glad her voice was already hoarse from her singing. She takes the marker that Taylor had apparently brought with her, Victoria turns around gesturing she wanted the back signed. "Who am I making this out to?"

"Victoria."

Max nods as she places her hand on Victoria's shoulder, her thumb lightly rubbing against the denim jacket; she feels Victoria tense up. She signs the jacket, caps the marker, and clears her throat as she hands the marker back to Taylor. "You guys have a good night." Max turns on her heels and rushes back inside.

* * *

 

Victoria sighs heavily as she dropped Taylor off in her room; they had gone out for late drinks, well, the others did but Victoria found herself not in the mood. She smiles a little at her best friend before leaving the room and closing the door softly behind her. Victoria goes into her room, careful not to slam the door in her tired state; she kicks off her shoes without a care about putting them away, and she shrugs off her jacket. She stops just as she was about to throw the jacket onto the couch; she looks at the back to see what was written.

_To Victoria, I hope you don't let your fears stop you from chasing your desires and dreams. Jane Doe of Time Paradox._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't write a full song mainly because I was having trouble coming up with lyrics, but I wanted you guys to have an idea as to what Max had written. The song is called Black Castle, and it's pretty much about Max's feelings toward the Vortex Club and how they bully everyone.


	4. Heat Rising

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summer starts to roll in.

**Five years ago.**

Chloe takes deep breaths as she stops outside of the dormitory, sweat dripping down from her forehead; Max's voice singing in her ears. She quickly whips off her face with her shirt before making her way inside, the cool air inside making her sigh heavily in relief. Chloe jogs up the stairs, cursing whoever put Max's and Kate's room on the third floor. She comes through the door of Max's floor, and smiles brightly when she sees her two favorite girls disappear into Max's room.

Chloe rushes down the hallway, quickly turning off her phone as she takes out her earbuds. She takes a moment outside Max's door to collect her breath and then knocks loudly. "Little pig, little pig, let me in!"

"Are you calling me fat?" Max's muffled voice answered back, soft giggling joining in from someone else.

"No! Gosh Max, never read the Three Little Pigs?" Chloe opens the door and walks inside.

"Of course I have, just wanted to make you...sweat a lot apparently." Max frowns as she looks Chloe over. "What did you do? Run from a pack of wolves?"

Chloe rolls her eyes as she slams the door close with her foot. "Nah man, I went jogging, I gotta keep this body rock solid for my ladies." Chloe flexes her arms and winks at Max and Kate.

Kate giggles again, shaking her head fondly at Chloe. "I didn't know we were dating! You should've told me sooner Chloe, I would have asked you to join Max and me on our tea date."

"You two are dorks." Max grabs a towel off the back of the chair at her desk, she throws it at Chloe and grins a bit when it smacks Chloe right in the face. "Go wash off, I don't want you stinking up my room."

Chloe pulls the towel off her face, glaring playfully at Max, she sticks her tongue out. "Whatever, can I borrow some clothes then?"

Max nods, her grin growing wider. "Sure, but none of my clothes will fit you."

"Yeah, but I've always wanted to look like a hipster. I bet I'll look hella good." Chloe said as she starts to raid Max's closest.

"You'll look like a hella nerd."

Chloe pauses for a second to pout over at Kate. "Would I look like a hella nerd, Katie?"

Kate shrugs her shoulders. "I can't really imagine you in Max's clothes, you're just too punk."

"Holy shit I just thought of Chloe dressed like you, Kate. She would give your pastor a heart attack."

"Alright! I'm going, I'm going! I'm also using your toothbrush!" Chloe said as she hurries out the door.

"Chloe don't you d-" Chloe slams the door close before Max could finish.

* * *

 

"I'll tear down these blacken walls! I'll rise up for those who can't stand!" Chloe steps out of the shower stall, towel drying her hair as she sings along with Max's voice.

No one else was in the bathroom so Chloe took the chance to play the song from her phone. She puts the towel around her neck as she walks up to the sink where her phone lied; Chloe picks it up and turns the screen back on. Chloe smiles a little seeing them up on that make-shift stage, though the quality of the video was shitty because of the camera David was using; Chloe makes a note to get a better one for future videos. Black Castle comes to an end, and soon they were doing a cover of It Gets More Blue.

Chloe grabs the small bottle of mouthwash she took from Max, she was about to take a mouthful when the door to the bathroom opens. Chloe smiles seeing a familiar tall, brunette. "Dana! What's up girl?"

Dana stops for a second, a look of surprise quickly dissolving into a bright smile. "Hey Chloe, nothing much just gonna take a shower." Dana was about to step over to one of the shower stalls, but she stops and turns back around to face Chloe. "Is that Time Paradox?"

"Uh yeah, did you go to their concert?"

"Yeah, I went with Juliet, I'm guessing you saw them too?"

Chloe shakes her head no. "I wanted to, but my stomach had other ideas. I'm glad they recorded the whole thing."

"They are really good, Juliet wasn't too sure about them at first, but the moment Jane Doe started to sing I could tell she was hooked. It's too bad you missed it live, maybe next time."

"Probably not. As much as I love thrashing I need to focus on dreading my exams."

"Ugh, I don't even want to think about those." Dana once again went to turn toward the showers, but stopped once more; she looks back at Chloe with a puzzled frown. "Just one more thing. Why are you wearing Max's shirt?" Dana had seen Max wear the blue shirt maybe once or twice before, and of course she looked adorable in it with the grinning, cartoon shark on the front. Chloe looked ridiculous in it, especially since the t-shirt just barely covered her navel.

Chloe puts one hand over her heart and the other hand cups her cheek, she turns her head away from Dana as she speaks with an overly hurt voice. "Oh it was terrible Dana! I jogged all the way over here, but Max didn't appreciate the effort I put into keeping this body in shape, so she kicked me out of her room and told me to take a shower. I don't understand how my first mate could be so cruel to me! Her captain!"

"Gosh, I'm so jealous of you." Dana said with a roll of her eyes. "You have the two cutest girls in school as your girlfriends."

Chloe feels herself tense up, her eyes slowly widening. "What?"

Dana raises an eyebrow in puzzlement. "Kate and Max, you're dating them, right? I mean, you three are always together, you guys hug all the time and hold hands; you guys even kiss each other on the cheeks sometimes."

"No! Fuck Dana, we're just best friends, does everyone else think this? I swear to god if Juliet has been spreading-"

"Whoa whoa! Chill, Price, no one is spreading rumors. Honestly, you three just act like a couple, sorry for misunderstanding but you got really defective right there."

Chloe sighs as she leans against the sink. "Well of course I did. Kate already gets shit from the Vortex Club for being abstinent; can you imagine how much worse it would get if they think she had two girlfriends? People would call her a slut and ask if threesomes are fun. I don't want my best friends to suffer through that bullshit."

"I...damn Chloe, you sure know how to make a girl feel like shit."

"Sorry Dana, I ain't hating on you, you're one of the good people. Just...the next time you hear someone talking about us being girlfriends, tell them they're wrong."

Dana gives Chloe a firm nod. "Sure thing Chloe, I've got your guys' backs." She finally disappears into one of the shower stalls and closed the curtain.

Chloe leaned heavily against the sink, ignoring how it dug uncomfortably into her lower back. Her heart was racing and she couldn't calm it down. Had they really been acting like a couple? Chloe did all she could to hide her feelings for Kate and Max, but apparently the desires she had been doing her best to keep down were still surfacing a little. She knew trying to hide her crushes from them was stupid, it was Max and Kate-the two kindest girls in the world! However, that didn't stop Chloe's fear of destroying their friendship; she rather have them as friends than not have them at all.

Chloe was just nearing Max's door when her phone suddenly chirped alerting her that she got a text message; she pulled it out, and a smile stretches wide across her face seeing a familiar name.

**Rachel <3: ** _Heeeyyy~ just watched vid for the 100 time, still so good! u coming to Cal for summer?_

**Chloe:** _dont know, wanna stay with Max and Kate_

**Rachel <3: ** _bring them too! the more the merrier._

**Chloe:** _ill run it by them, there's gonna be a concert for last day of school_

**Rachel <3:**  _fuck yes! wish i could be there to hear it live. Max's voice does things to me~_

**Chloe:** _im telling her u said that_

**Rachel <3: ** _NO DON'T!!! YOU'LL RUIN ME BEFORE I EVEN MEET HER_

**Chloe:** _too late now she'll know ur dirty secret_

**Rachel <3: ** _CHLOE_

**Chloe:** _jk u safe_

**Rachel <3: ** _I hate you! >:(_

**Chloe:** _no emoji!_

**Rachel <3: ** _> :) >:) >:)_

* * *

 

Max looks up from her homework when she hears the door open, and she smiles a little seeing Chloe wearing her t-shirt. "What took you so long? Did you fall into the toilet?"

Chloe rolls her eyes. "Nah, I was talking to Dana for a bit and then Rachel texted me. She wants to know if I'm coming down to Long Beach for the summer."

"I thought you wanted to go to Seattle with Kate and me?" Max frowns a little as she fully turns around in her seat.

"I do, I just thought maybe we could go visit for a week or so and then head up to Seattle," Chloe said.

Max frowns even more. "Chloe, we can't fit in a trip down to Long Beach and then to Seattle, we were already going to stop in Portland for a while. Don't forget we also have to apply to college and get jobs too once we get to Seattle. We really don't have the time."

"...I'll tell her we'll visit next year." Chloe said as she pulls out her phone.

"I'm sorry, Chloe, I know how much you love Rachel," Max said, "next time I swear we'll go see her. We'll even give her a private showing of Time Paradox once we do."

Chloe cracks a small smile as she texts Rachel. "She'll love that."

Kate squirms a bit from her spot on Max's bed, she was fidgeting with her cross; she was clearly uncomfortable from the tense in the room. "Um, so I wrote a song," Kate quickly said, trying to break the tension.

Max's and Chloe's attention instantly went to her. "No way! That's awesome Bunny, you gotta let us see it." Chloe goes over to Kate and falls onto the bed, she lays herself across Kate's lap.

"Wow Kate, it seems I'll be busy," Max said, she was smiling again now. "I've been working on a song too. I hope I'll be ready to sing both by June."

Kate relaxes, her other hand came up and started to run through Chloe's hair. "Actually, I want to sing it. It's kind of personal."

Chloe perks up, she gives Kate a thrilled smile. "I've heard you hum before but never sing! I can't wait for this, I bet you sing like an angel."

Kate rolls her eyes, but that doesn't stop heat from rising up into her cheeks. "Oh stop it, you flatter me too much."

"It's because I love you."

The flash of a camera surprises them, yet it doesn't; they look to see Max grinning widely at them as she sets both her camera and a new photo onto her desk. "Sorry, couldn't resist."

Chloe smiles fondly at Max. "Of course you couldn't."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've to write this down for not only myself, but for you guys too.
> 
> This chapter takes place during mid April 2014. Chloe is 20 years old. Kate, Max, and Victoria are still 18.


	5. Open Mouths

**Five years ago.**

Victoria let out a disgusted grunt as the summer heat was starting to rear its head, making the air uncomfortably sticky. She curled her lips into an annoyed sneer when laughter rang in her ears, her eyes snap up toward Taylor with a glare. "Shut up, I hate summer."

"It isn't even summer yet, Vic! Hell, we're barely halfway through May."

"Still fucking hot," Victoria mutters as she turned her eyes back down to her camera. "So, have you decided where you're going for college?"

Taylor shrugs her shoulders. "I thought maybe somewhere in New York, I love the city."

Victoria hums. "It suits you. I think I might head up to Seattle for a year or two. I...I don't have a solid plan just yet."

"Victoria Chase? Not having made plans for her future?! Now there's a shocker."

"Oh shut up." Victoria rolls her eyes, turning her back on Taylor as she aimed up her camera.

There wasn't really anything to take a picture of, it seemed everyone decided to stay inside to keep away from the surprisingly hot weather. Victoria let out an annoyed huff of air as she looked at the dorms through her camera, but laughter caught her ear and she turned toward the sound; three smiling faces showed up in her view finder. Kate laughs again-carefree and warm-as Max is pulled into a headlock by Chloe; Chloe seeming to scold Max for saying something but her glare is ruined by the wide grin on her face. Victoria acts without thought and the moment is captured by a mute click of her camera.

"Victoria?"

Victoria pulls herself away from her camera, blaming the heat for the sudden dizziness that hits her. "Y-yeah?"

Taylor frowns a bit. "Didn't you hear me? I asked if you wanted to head out to the beach, you know, to cool off?"

"Um..." Victoria's eyes quickly dart to the trio, tensing up a bit as they grew closer. "...how about the boardwalk? Maybe there'll actually be people there."

Taylor narrows her eyes as she finally takes notice of what was causing Victoria's behavior, an impish grin stretches out across her face. "Hey Vic, your gay is showing."

Victoria jolts a bit at Taylor's comment, her eyes snap back toward Taylor. "Shut the fuck up!" Victoria hisses, drawing closer to Taylor as she whispers. "You'll ruin me if they hear you!"

"Calm down, those three are so engross with each other that they'll never notice us." Taylor stands up, but stays under the shade of the tree. "Honestly, you should just tell Max and Kate."

"Are you really that fucking stupid?! I bullied those two endless for the first two months of school, they would rather drown than date me!"

Taylor rolls her eyes. "You don't know that until you tell them, but I'll drop it for now. You need anything before we go?"

Victoria says nothing, instead she marches toward the parking lot not waiting for Taylor. A sigh escapes Taylor as she hurries after Victoria; she knew better to bring up Victoria's crushes, but she was so tired of seeing Victoria so twitchy and fake whenever Kate and Max were brought up in a conversation. She just couldn't understand why Victoria didn't go after Kate or something, Kate seemed like she would be the most forgiving, and if God was feeling nice maybe Kate would return her feelings.

* * *

The heat of the day was starting to cool down as the sun was starting to set, painting the sky in warm colors. Victoria found herself staring up at the sky as she walked the concert path that snaked throughout Blackwell's campus. Taylor and her had returned from the boardwalk only a few minutes ago, and while Taylor had went back to the dorms Victoria felt restless and had no desire to be inside just yet.

"If you keep walking like that you're gonna trip."

Victoria blinks a few times as she looks toward the voice, and her eyes widen in surprise seeing she had walked back to the parking lot. Chloe is sitting in the bed of her truck, an unlit cigarette hanging limply between her lips. Victoria shakes her head a little as she walks over to Chloe.

"I thought you would enjoy seeing that." Victoria said as she stopped at the foot of the truck.

Chloe shrugs her shoulders. "Sure, back when you were a mega bitch. Though now you've chilled down, and apologized to Kate and Max, I think I can give a little bit of forgiveness. But if you got hit by a water ballon I would totally laugh and take a pic."

Victoria rolls her eyes. "You can stop joking, Price, I know you three hate my guts."

"Where did you get that idea from?" Chloe takes the cigarette from her mouth, and stuffs it back into its pack. "One of your slaves tell you that?"

 _I wish._ "No...And they're not my slaves, they're my best friends."

"You sure don't treat them like that."

"And you don't treat Max and Kate like best friends." Victoria raises an eyebrow in interest when she notices the way Chloe's shoulders slightly tense. _What are you hiding Price?_

Chloe hops out from the bed of the truck, and she gets right in Victoria's personal space their faces inches away. "I swear if you fuckers are spending rumors I gonna break that pretty face of yours."

The smell of something sweet lingered on Chloe's breath, while sea salt and smoke clung to her skin; Victoria found her eyes drifting to Chloe's lips, before she realized what Chloe said and her eyes snap back up to stare into piercing blue eyes. "Wait, are people saying shit about Kate? I thought I told everyone to lay the fuck off!"

"Whoa wait, you stopped the others from bullying Max and Kate?"

"Well of course! Who else could get those idiots in line? But if they're starting up shit-"

"Th-they're not, or at least I thought maybe someone was." Chloe takes a step back as she looks off to the side. "Dana and a few others pointed out that we-Kate, Max, and me-act like...a couple, and that really bothers me."

Victoria frowns and crosses her arms. "Why? I thought you liked girls."

Chloe's head snaps toward Victoria, her mouth wide open along with her eyes. "What would give you that idea?" Victoria simply raises an eyebrow, and Chloe can feel a blush burn across her cheeks. "Oh fuck off, I'm not a stereotype."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night. But I don't see the problem with people thinking you're dating those two." _Besides the fact that I like them._

"I don't want your asshole club giving them shit. I can already hear all the kind of shit everyone would come up with to torture Kate and Max with." Chloe snarls, her hands curling tightly into fists.

"That won't happen." Victoria's voice is cold and firm with anger and determination. "I don't regret a lot of things, Price, but I have to say one of my biggest mistakes was hurting Kate and Max."

Chloe frowns a little, that was one thing she always wondered about Victoria. "Why do you regret it? Why did you even bully them in the first place?"

Victoria looks around them as if to make sure no else was around. "I'll be real with you, Chloe." Victoria looks Chloe right in the eye. "I've always had trouble dealing with certain stuff. When I first met Kate I was captured by her kindness and angelic smile; so naturally I got angry at myself so I pushed that anger onto Kate. Then Max came along with her retro style, her freckles, and that stupid, cute face of hers...See the pattern?"

Chloe blinks slowly, her mind stuck on two things. "Fuck, you're gay. Damn I've joked about you being a lipstick lesbian but I didn't think I was right."

"Seriously? That's the one thing you got out of all of that?" Victoria sighs heavily, she was starting to question her decision to being open with Chloe.

"No, you also apparently like my best friends. Am I gonna have to give you the dad talk? You know the whole 'hurt them and I break legs' thing."

Victoria rolls her eyes and waves off Chloe's statement. "Hell no, they don't need to know."

Chloe hops back up onto the bed of her truck. "Why not? You're usually not the type to shy away from things like this."

Victoria looks at Chloe with a narrowed gaze. "I just told you I don't deal with this type of shit well. I bullied them because I don't want to feel this way!"

Chloe flinches at Victoria's outburst. "Alright, read you loud and clear...Why tell me then?"

"I don't know." Victoria shrugs her shoulders. "You take no one's bullshit, and I respect that, so I felt like I should be honest."

Silence stretches out between them; the sun still settling down for the night, and fireflies started to blink into existent. Victoria stepped up and leaned against the truck beside Chloe's leg, she watched the flashing green lights flutter lazily through the air.

"I found out I was gay when I was ten." Chloe's voice seems almost too loud now. "I was at the park with Max, playing on the monkey bars. I remember losing my grip and landing funny, we found out later I had sprained my ankle. Max hears my crying and immediately comes running over asking me what was wrong. I tell her my ankle hurts, and you know what she does? She kisses it and asks if it's better; it wasn't but I forgot that pain just for that moment. I remember wanting Max to kiss it better again and again."

"...That's seriously how you found out?"

"Well, not really, but I think that was the starting point of my feelings for Max."

"...I found out at a party." Victoria said so softly Chloe almost didn't hear her.

Chloe reaches out and pats Victoria's shoulder. "You don't have to tell me the whole story."

Victoria looks at Chloe's hand, which stayed on her shoulder. "You like Max?"

"And Kate, I'm in the same boat as you."

"Expect they would actually return your feelings," Victoria mutters.

Chloe shrugs her shoulders. "Maybe, but you never know. I think I'm fine with having their friendship."

Victoria brushes off Chloe's hand. "Lucky you."

Chloe puts her hand back on Victoria's shoulder, her index and middle fingers tapping a beat against Victoria's neck. "You want me to put in a good word for you?"

"You're an idiot." There's no malice to Victoria's words, instead there's a tiny smile on her lips. "The school year is almost up and we're all probably going to different colleges."

"So you don't want to be friends?"

"No, I think being friendly with you is enough. And stop that!" Victoria slaps Chloe's hand.

Chloe grins, ignoring the sting, as she keeps tapping her fingers against Victoria's skin. "You can call me a friend, hell won't freeze over if you do."

Victoria raises an eyebrow. "Sure about that, Price? The devil could be cursing our names right now."

Chloe nods her head her grin becoming more wild as she leans down toward Victoria. "Let him, I'm sure two bad bitches like us could kick his ass."

Victoria can't stop the small chuckle that leaves her lips. "You're ridiculous."

"Whatever, don't lie you like it." Chloe grins as she brings her hand away from Victoria's shoulder. She hops off the bed of her truck. "Anyway, I should head out before the step-sergent starts blowing up my phone about curfew and shit."

Victoria steps away from the truck, and watches as Chloe slams the back closed. She missed the warmth of Chloe's hand. "Alright, it was...nice talking to you."

Chloe throws a grin over her shoulder at Victoria. "Yeah it was, we should do it again Vic."

"Don't call me that."

"Would you prefer Vicky then?"

"...I hate you so much."

Chloe chuckles as she opens the driver door. "Love ya too, Vic."


	6. Angels Singing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The summer heat sets in.

**Five years ago.**

Chloe frowns a little looking up at the gray clouds that covered the sky; the fear of rain was real and it was annoying the shit out of Chloe. It took them all of half of April and all of May to get their second concert figured out, and Chloe didn't want all of that hard work to go to waste because of some water. She almost didn't get permission for the stage that was set up on the beach right now, and she almost didn't get enough people to help set it up. Chloe will never say it out loud, but she was thankful for David's help.

She tapped a pack of cigarettes against her thigh, a faint desire to smoke but the image of Kate's pouting face stopped her from taking one out. Chloe looked around the parking lot and while she did spot a few students she didn't see any of the three girls she actually wanted to be with right now. Or at least she didn't until the pack of cigarettes was knocked out her hand. Chloe looks to her side a bit startled, but she sighs when she sees Victoria standing there with a small smirk.

"Oh. Hey Vic, I didn't see you there." Chloe bends down and picks up the pack. "That's called littering my friend and it's not cool."

Victoria rolls her eyes. "Really? That's all you have to say? It's the last day of school, no tears for me?"

Chloe snorts, a smirk growing on her face. "I think your ego is already too big, and besides I'm pretty sure you feed off of tears so I don't want to give you more years onto your life."

"Oh come on, why not? I'm so close to becoming immortal."

"Now that's a scary thought."

They both chuckle, but as the laughter dissolves away there's a somber feeling left behind in the air. "But seriously, Chloe, this is probably the last time we'll see each other for a long time." Victoria frowns a little as she crosses her arms. "My parents are gonna force me into taking over the gallery so I'll be spending a lot of my time between college and them."

They only got to really know each other these past few weeks, but there's something there between them that just makes them click together; perhaps it's their mutual crushes on Kate and Max. So Chloe tries to think of a life without Victoria, but Chloe has a stubborn mind that doesn't like that idea very much.

"No."

Victoria's eyes widen and blink rapidly. "No?"

"Yeah, no." Chloe straightens up a bit, a wide grin stretching out across her face. "Sorry to break it to you, Chase, but you can't shake me off that easily. My friendship is for life, whether you like it or not. So I guess I'll just have to call and Skype you every single day."

Victoria smiles fondly at Chloe as she lets out a sigh. "You're an idiot, Butterfly."

Chloe's heart jolts a bit at the nickname, and she can't stop the large, goofy smile that blooms onto her face. The first time Victoria called her butterfly it was out of the blue really; they were having lunch together out in the quad. They had been ribbing each other trying to see who could get the last word, and then Chloe had made fun of herself because that's what she does best. She remembers Victoria laughing, her eyes shining brightly like the afternoon sun, and then the nickname slipped out between breathless giggles. The look on Victoria's face once she realized what she called Chloe was priceless.

"I'd wish you used that more often, I love that nickname."

Victoria turns her head away, her cheeks looking a bit more pink than usual. "No way, it's embarrassing."

"Then why do you still call me it?" Chloe questions a smug smirk on her face.

"Chloe!" Both of them turned toward the soft voice that made their hearts flutter; Kate approached them with a gentle smile. The gray clouds above choose this time to part letting rays of sunshine through, the light getting caught in Kate's hair and making a halo around her head.

"I wondered if God knew he was dooming all queer women on this world when he created Kate." Victoria whispered in Chloe's ear, and Chloe does her best to hold down her laughter.

Chloe gets her giggles under control just as Kate reaches them, she opens her arms and Kate comes right in for the hug. "Hey Bunny, you got everything ready?"

Kate nods against Chloe's shoulder. "We're ready to go when you are." Kate said as she slowly pulls away from Chloe, she turns her gaze to Victoria. "Hello Victoria, ready for college?"

"Of course, a Chase is ready for anything." Victoria puffs out her chest a practiced confident that has taken her years to master.

Kate smiles brightly up at Victoria, and it leaves Victoria breathless for a moment. "Good, where are you going for college?"

Victoria feels that practiced confident slipping away at an alarming rate. "Seattle, I'm going to Horne University."

"You're fucking shitting me!" Victoria is pulled into a pair of strong arms, her face pressed against a neck, and the air in her lungs being squeezed out by a tight hug. "Vic! We're going to the same college, why the fuck didn't you say anything sooner?!"

The familiar scent of sea salt fills Victoria's nose. "You didn't ask!" Victoria's voice is muffled by Chloe's skin.

Chloe shivers a bit feeling Victoria's lips move against her skin, but she keeps hugging Victoria until she feels a foot kick her shin. "Ow! Alright, alright." She lets go of Victoria with a slight pout. "Jesus, you kick hard, were you in soccer or something?"

A giggle reminds them that Kate was still there. "It's great to hear you're going to Horne too," Kate said, "I've been wanting to hang out with you too, Victoria."

"O-oh, really?" Victoria crosses her arms. "Why? What has Chloe said about me?"

"Nothing bad, Chloe says she has a lot of fun with you."

"Our definition of fun is picking on each other," Victoria said, "really, that's all Chloe and I do when we hang out."

Chloe shrugs her shoulders. "Eh, not really, we watch movies together and we've taken walks on the beach together."

Victoria gives Chloe a glare that screamed 'what are you doing?' and Chloe simply smiled with another shrug of her shoulders. "That sounds nice, once we get to Seattle you'll have to show me around, Victoria," Kate said, "Chloe said you lived in Seattle before coming to Arcadia."

"Uh yeah, but I'm guessing Maxine will get the honor of showing you guys the city. I'll be pretty busy doing some stuff." Victoria can already imagine the things her parents will be having her do for the gallery.

Kate's face falls for second, but she quickly recovers with a tender smile. "Still, I'm sure you have some favorite spots you could show...Anyway I should go get ready. Chloe, Max's parents should be here soon to pick up our things, and then we have to go to your house for dinner."

"I know Bun-Bun, go keep Max company while I say goodbye to Vic." Chloe takes a few steps forward, leans down, and kisses Kate's cheek. "I'll join you two soon."

"Alright, Chloe. Bye Victoria, I expect that date soon." Kate turns on her heels and hurries off back toward the dorms.

The moment Kate disappeared from sight Victoria immediately punched Chloe's arm. "What the fuck!? Why did you encourage us to hang out together? You know my feelings about this!"

Chloe winces at the slight pain in her arm; that was going to bruise. "Listen Victoria I'm gonna be honest with you, I hate that bullshit. You shouldn't run away from your feelings, and I think Kate is the best person to embrace being, you know, lesbians with. And before you say anything, I'm friends with Kate and that's good enough for me; I rather have her friendship than a relationship with her. You're lucky, you get a chance for her to see you in a romantic light."

"Lucky? Chloe, you get to kiss her whenever you want; I'll have to sell my soul if I want that."

Chloe's brows furrows. "Yeah, on the cheek, I wasn't shoving my tongue down her throat, but you would get the chance to do that if you would just fucking ask her out."

Victoria fusses with one of the golden bracelets on her left wrist. "You know I can't because my parents will fucking kill me if they find out I like girls!"

The air seems to grow still after Victoria's shout, both of them looking away as the silence grew heavier. "Sorry." The quiet is shattered by Chloe's whispered word. "I know I shouldn't push, but damn it Tori, it breaks my heart to see you hiding away yourself like this."

Victoria lets out a deep sigh, she looks up and her eyes met Chloe's. "It's alright, you're not the one I'm angry with."

"Will you be okay, Tori? If your parents...do anything, you know you can come to us, right?"

"I'll keep that in mind...Thank you, Chloe."

"No problem, I've got your back no matter what."

* * *

"Thank you so much for doing this." Kate carefully puts the last box in the trunk of the car. "I think that's everything, expect for Alice, which thank you again for taking her, I was unsure about bring Alice to Portland with us."

"It's no trouble at all, Kate." Ryan Caulfield smiled down at Kate. "We promise to take good care of her."

Kate smiles brightly as she closes the car door. "Are you two staying for the show? If not then I'll go get Alice right now."

Ryan nods. "We're staying. How are you feeling, Kate, nervous?"

"Well, yes, this is the first time I'll be singing for a crowd. I'm praying I won't mess up."

"I have faith you'll do wonderful." Ryan pats Kate's shoulder. "Anyway, I shouldn't take up anymore of your time, you do need to get ready, right?"

Kate looks down at her watch, and her eyes widen a little. "Oh my gosh! I need to go right now, I'm so sorry Mr. Caulfield. After the show I'll give you Alice. Bye!" Kate hurries off, Ryan shouting a goodbye to her back.

Kate didn't mean to get caught up with talking with Max's parents, but this was her first time meeting them and she wanted to make a good impression. Chloe told her she had nothing to worry about, that Ryan and Vanessa would love her instantly, but it was in Kate's nature to worry. She ran through the quad knowing how odd she must look, but she couldn't find it within herself to care. The moment Kate just gets to the edge of the parking lot a large smile blossoms onto her face seeing a familiar head of blue hair.

"Chloe!" Kate shouted as she picks up her pace.

Chloe looks up from her phone, light blue eyes sparkling with mirth, and Kate knew her heart now raced for a different reason. Chloe quickly putted her phone away, opened her arms wide, and was almost knocked off her feet by Kate barreling into her.

"I'm so sorry! I lost track of time." Kate nuzzled her face against Chloe's shoulder, taking in the scent of sea salt and oranges.

"It's cool, Bunny, we got time." Chloe said, she kissed the top of Kate's head and then pulled away. "Let's roll out."

Kate nods. "Is everything set up?" Kate asks as she gets into the passager seat.

Chloe hops up onto the driver seat, slamming the door closed. "Yup, we're getting dressed at the Two Whales, Joyce closed the diner early just for us."

"Is she going to the show?"

"I may have lied a bit, another reason she closed the diner was so she could go."

Kate giggles as Chloe starts the truck. "That's a good thing though, it means she supports you and what you're doing."

"...You make a good point, Bunny."

* * *

Victoria giggles as Taylor and her raced across the sand toward the stage, there was already a large group of people and people were still coming. The stage actually looked like it was set up by professionals this time instead of the shifty made one in the warehouse. Victoria's eyes were drawn to the large banner that was set up high, _Time Paradox_ written in curly black letters on white paper, and beside the band's name was a drawing; an hourglass painted in black with sand going up instead of down and a blue butterfly resting on top of the hourglass.

"Is that their logo? I like it, cool yet cute." Taylor said, her toes wiggling in the sand; they both had taken off their shoes and stuffed them into the backpack Taylor is carrying. "You know, there's this thing called the butterfly effect, where one small decision can effect everything in your life; I think there's a saying that goes along with it...something like a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil causes a hurricane in Japan."

Victoria looks at Taylor with an amused smile. "Where did you learn that?"

"Well, its Jane Doe's theme, or I guess you could say her background, she's a time traveler and she often talks about the chaos theory and the butterfly effect, it's really interesting."

"Wait, she talks about it?"

Taylor nods looking a bit confused. "Yeah, they all got videos of themselves explaining their characters, and I think Jane Doe is the most creative one, but i'm not saying Captain or Alice aren't interesting in their own ways."

Victoria makes a not in the back of her mind to watch those videos later. "So, how's college hunting going?"

Taylor shrugs her shoulders. "I've applied to a few places, I've been...I've been talking to Dana about it." It was a bit hard to tell in the fading sunlight, but Victoria is sure that Taylor's cheeks turn red.

"Ohhh, Dana eh." Victoria grins, and Taylor looks away her cheeks even redder now. "I always had a feeling, you two...?"

"No, she doesn't even know I like her and she won't know." Taylor was firmed in her words, a clear message.

Victoria rolls her eyes. "So you're allowed to be on my ass about liking Kate and Maxine, but I can't do that to you about Dana?"

Taylor at least looks a bit ashamed. "It's not the same thing, Dana is straight."

"And Kate and Maxine aren't?"

"Max is totally gay, maybe even bisexual. It's a bit harder to tell with Kate, but I've gotten some vibes from her, especially when she's around Max or Chloe which is all the time."

Victoria sighs as she holds up her hands. "I'll back off for now, but we're not done talking about this Taylor."

Taylor crosses her arms, looking away from Victoria once more. "Whatever."

They fall into silence, the noise of people around them growing louder and louder the more people showed up; actually, as Victoria focused around her, she noticed there was a lot more people than the first concert. It looked like almost all of the town was here. Victoria wonder for a second if Chloe was here with Kate and Max.

Suddenly the crowd was getting louder with cheers and screams of excitement. Victoria frowns in confusion until she finally saw Time Paradox themselves walking up onto the stage. The stage lights flash on the bright lights actually making it able to see the three girls; and Victoria took note of the difference with their costumes.

Captain Blue was without her trench coat, instead she was dressed in a very loose-silk blue tunic like shirt, white shorts that went down to her knees, and black combat boots; her lower face still hidden by a blue bandana, and the tricorne still on top of her head. Saint Alice was in a white sundress, lacy leggings, and black flats; there was bandage like cloth around her eyes, but her lower face was left exposed this time. Surprisingly Jane Doe was the one revealing the most skin. She wore a torn-black tank top that barely covered up most of her torso, jean shots that stopped at mid-thigh, and black sneakers; deer skull mask like usual, and black makeup covering her lower face and her neck.

They settled in quickly, their instruments at the ready, but instead of instantly starting Jane Doe spoke into the mic. "Arcadia Bay! How are you all doing tonight?!" Victoria was impressed Jane could keep up with her faked voice as she shouted.

The cheers and yells of everyone around her sounded like the roar of a wave, and Victoria found herself shouting along with everyone. Victoria felt her heart rate pick up with excitement a wide smile on her face, she never noticed the way Taylor smiled at her; her eyes were solely focused on Jane Doe.

"Now that's what I like to hear." Jane said once the crowd calmed down a bit, a grin stretched wide across her face. "Now before we start I would like to let you all know tonight we are handing out tickets for a drawing after the show. The prize isn't very impressive sadly, the winner will be getting an one of kind Time Paradox t-shirt, which has been signed by all three of us."

Victoria and Taylor looked at each other, and they nod as they came to a silent understanding. They weren't against theft, or bribery to get what they want; besides, they've done worst.

"Alright everyone, let's get this started!"

Almost immediately the stage lights dimmed down, and after a few seconds of quiet the deep thump of the drum started up like a heart beat; a steady, single beat. Then Jane started to pant, and then groan softly, and then outright _moaned_ louder and louder until. "Come on, my Queen, step on me harder." Breathless, husky.

Victoria was gonna be uncomfortable for the rest of the night.

Jane joins in with her guitar as the drums start to pick up, the tone of the song was truly set now as the guitar and drum gave a slow, sensual feeling; just as Jane leans into the mic Alice joins in on her violin.

* * *

  _"Come on, you can be a little rougher._

_Tighten that grip, I don't break as easily as the others."_

Kate feels a shiver go down her spine, no matter how many times she heard Max sing this song she can't stop the heat that builds up in her stomach.

_"Don't hold back with that wicked tongue._

_Sink your teeth into my pulse._

_I just wanna see you come undone!"_

Kate didn't have many parts in the song, it was mainly Max and Chloe playing, but Max made sure Kate's violin shine during the chorus. Max stopped playing and Kate jumped in, her violin taking up the guitar's part and keeping with the sensual tone of the song.

_"Don't be afraid my Queen!_

_I've seen your ugly side, and I like what I see._

_Don't be afraid my Queen,_

_I can take the beatings, baby."_

Kate stops playing as Max takes over, her heart was pounding in her chest and she couldn't even pinpoint the reason why. Kate would like to blame it on anxiety, but she was a terrible lair even to herself.

* * *

Victoria bounces a little on the ball of her feet as she waits for the second part of the concert to start. Victoria felt someone tap her shoulder, and when she turned she sees Taylor standing there with two hotdogs in her hands, she holds one out to Victoria.

"Oh, thanks Sweet-T."

 "No problem, I figured you were getting hungry. Are you sure you don't have to go to the bathroom?"

Victoria nods her head. "Yeah, besides I think the second half is gonna start soon and I don't want to miss anything." Victoria takes a large bite out of the hotdog.

Taylor looks up at the stage a small frown working onto her face. "It looks like some stuff was moved around."

"Oh yeah, that happened right after you left, I'm not sure what's going on." Victoria takes another bite, burying her toes in the sand.

The lights on the stage brighten as Captain Blue stepped out with Jane Doe; the crowd immediately starts to cheer, but Blue calms them down with a wave of her hand as walks up to the mic. "Are you all ready for the second half?!" Blue lets everyone get worked up with yelling and cheering before she speaks again. "Yeah! So you all should have those tickets now, please hold onto them until the end when we do the drawing, but for now it's time. Everyone, let me hear you make some fucking noise for Saint Alice!"

Saint Alice steps out onto the stage, the bandages around her eyes pushed up so she can walk on her own. As she picks up her violin Captain Blue goes over to her drums, while Jane waited ready in Alice's old spot. Alice finally faces the crowd, and for a moment Victoria swears Alice froze up-her barely visible eyes wide with fear; but Alice reaches up and pulls the bandages down, blinding herself to the sea of faces.

"H-hello everyone." Her voice is so weak and soft. The image of Kate Marsh popped up in Victoria's head, rain-soaked and red, puffy eyes looking up at her with soul crushing sorrow in her hazel eyes; it was a sight Victoria never wanted to see again.

The crowd was losing their heads though, even if everyone loved Jane's singing the thought of Alice singing was certainly an exciting, and the crowd was letting the band know that. Alice seems to perk up at this, her back straightening out as she holds her head up. "I-I wasn't so sure about this, I'm not the best singer-"

"Bullshit!"

Blue's shout got laughter out of the crowd, and a frown from Alice. "-but we all made a promise to sing any songs we wrote ourselves, so...here I am. This song goes to two important people in my life, and I hope they get the message. This is Angels Falling."

Alice draws her bow across the strings of her violin.

* * *

_"Good girls don't sin, that's always what I've been taught._

_I don't act up when a hand lashes out._

_I stay quiet with my lips sewn shut,_

_did't tell the pastor how I got the scars on my wrists._

_Be a good girl, and don't be true to yourself."_

This wasn't the song they practiced. Chloe and Max almost messed up on the first note when they heard the wrong lyrics coming from Kate's lips; they luckily caught themselves. The actual music was the same, that hadn't change, but the lyrics weren't. And Max and Chloe had to honestly admit that these new lyrics went along with the music way better than apparently the fake ones. The somber, resentment filled words fitted beautifully with the low notes of the violin and guitar, and the restless higher notes of the drums.

_"Angels falling, yeah that's what it felt like,_

_when I saw on the news another girl had taken her life._

_I feared I wouldn't be far behind,_

_another angel with tattered wings who had tried to fly."_

The song was building up, Max and Chloe knew this part, the violin rising higher and growing bolder leaving behind that somber feeling. At the peak of the high notes they all stop playing, a moment passing by in still quietness.

_"Until I met them."_

The violin cried out in joy, the music taking a more happy tone, yet anger still lingered in any drawn out low note from the violin. Max matched Kate's fast pace, but the wailing of the guitar didn't outshine the violin.

_"She was a whirlwind that came into my life out of the blue,_

_picked me off my knees with a carefree smile,_

_and asked me if I wanted to take a ride._

_The smell of the sea never leaves her skin."_

Chloe frowned a little; that sounded a lot like how she and Kate met. They met at the Two Whales, which was a bit funny counting that's also how Chloe met Max. Kate had been sitting in a booth far away from everyone else, tightly curled in on herself with cold mug of tea between her hands. Chloe had spotted Kate the moment she walked in; the sunlight coming through just perfect to cast Kate in a golden glow. Then Chloe saw the dark, dullness of those hazel eyes. She likes to think that's the moment she fell in love with Kate. So Chloe swooped in with a bad joke about a chicken crossing a road, and then asked Kate if she would like to know where that chicken was going. She still doesn't know why Kate said yes to getting into a complete stranger's car-especially Chloe's beat up truck-but Chloe was glad she did. That walk on the beach was the start of something amazing.

_"Flash of light, and I was blind._

_Pretty blue eyes and a shy smile,_

_bad puns on the tip of her tongue._

_How could I resist?"_

Max glances at Kate; she remembered that day. Max's first day back in Arcadia Bay, and she was wandering around Blackwell's campus with her trusty camera ready to snap some photos. Then Max saw her. Sitting under a tree and bathed in the afternoon sun, a squirrel eating out of the palm of her hand. Max took a picture without thinking about turning off her flash first, scaring both the heavenly girl and the squirrel. Kate doesn't know but Max has kept the photo in her wallet since the day she took it.

_"I couldn't stop, couldn't stop._

_Love isn't something I'm used to!_

_But being in love with angels,_

_am I crazy?"_

Love?! Max and Chloe almost fuck up again, they catch themselves as they share a quick glance at each other then looked toward Kate.

_"Be a good girl they said, well fuck that I say!_

_If being a good girl means not loving angels,_

_then strike me down, I dare you!_

_I'll just get right back up,_

_angels singing in my ears that everything will be okay."_

Kate takes a step back from the mic as she goes into a solo on her violin. Everyone was into it judging from the wild yelling and cheers. Kate steps back up to the mic as the violin calms down.

_"Angels still falling, but I gotta keep my head up._

_Two pairs of blue eyes keeping me up at night._

_No amount of praying can make this go away,_

_so I might as well embrace it, right?_

_Angels still falling, but my tattered wings aren't so broken anymore."_

* * *

"Vic, I think I'm in love," Taylor said as Time Paradox finished the last song of the night.

Victoria found herself agreeing with Taylor; she hadn't expected Alice to be so...good. Victoria wondered why Jane was the lead singer and not Alice, the small girl had an amazing voice that kind of reminded Victoria of Florence Welch.

Blue went up to the mic, whispering something in Alice's ear before speaking into the mic. "Well, I guess this is it, it been great playing for you guys, but it's time we say goodbye to you, and to Arcadia Bay. But before we go we have a prize to give away, so Alice, would you do us the honor?"

Jane walked over to join Blue and Alice, a basket in her hands. Alice reaches in and pulls out a red ticket, she hands it to Blue. "And our winner is...four-two-two-zero-three...six."

Taylor sighs disappointed, she looks to Victoria with a small frown. "Did you lose too, Vic...Vic?"

Victoria was staring down at her ticket, her eyes wide and her jaw slack; Taylor steps closer to look at Victoria's ticket. "Victoria, you won! Holy shit you won!" Taylor shakes Victoria's shoulder, and that seems to snap her out of her stunned state.

"Oh, I think I find our winner." Blue said, her eyes landing about the two squealing girls. Victoria forgot they were really close to the stage. "Come on up, girl."

Taylor walked with Victoria helping her push through the crowd to get to the stairs. Taylor slaps Victoria's back and a thumbs, she waits by the stairs as Victoria walks up them. Blue's eyes were crinkled with a hidden smile, once Victoria was close enough she held out her hand.

"Ticket please, we just wanna double check." Victoria nods, she found it hard to talk pass the lump in her throat, she hands over the ticket. Blue compares them quickly, and with one finally nod she gestures to Jane. "Yup, she's our winner, the grand prize if you would, Jane."

Jane steps up to Victoria and hands her the t-shirt. "I know you."

"O-oh, you remember me?"

"Yeah...Victoria, right? You're pretty lucky. Here you go, winner."

Victoria takes the folded up t-shirt. "I uh I just want to say I really like your new song."

Jane tilted her head slightly, and Victoria hated that she couldn't see Jane's eyes. "...Thank you."

* * *

Kate fidgets with her braid. Max and Chloe has been eerily quiet since they got back from the concert; they stood in the Two Whales kitchen right now changing out of their costumes. Kate sits down and starts to remove her leggings.

"Kate." Chloe says her name.

She freezes up with her leggings barely pass her knees. "Y-yeah?" She doesn't look up at them.

"You really feel that way, about us?" Max speaks this time.

Kate licks her lips, her mouth dry. "Y-y-yes."

They say no more, the silence soaking into them, and it was making Kate twitch and fidget even more. Suddenly Chloe starts to laugh, a soft chuckle at first then it turned to snorting before becoming full blown laughter. Kate is startled by it and she looks up at Chloe in confusion.

"All this time," Chloe gasps, her voice breathless, "I was stressing, and you liked me this whole time!"

"Wh-what?"

Chloe looks at Kate, a grin from ear to ear and tears in her eyes. "I like you too, Bunny, and I've been pulling my hair out about it for months."

Kate turns her gaze to Max. "Max?"

"I...fuck, yeah I like you guys too! How can't I? You guys are just so...awesome."

Kate jumps onto her feet, and almost falls onto her face because she forgot her leggings were still around her knees. Chloe chuckles and walks over to Kate. "Careful Bunny, I don't want you getting hurt."

Kate blushes as she quickly takes off her leggings. "So, what does this mean? Are we...girlfriends? How does this even work?"

"Well it's-it's just like before, expect now we can like, kiss each other on the lips, and you know, go on dates. Nothing really changes, some people already thought we were dating." Chloe puts her arm around Kate's shoulders. "So yeah, just like before but more...gay."

"Chloe!" Max laughs, shaking her head as she goes over to them. She hesitates for a moment but then leans in and kisses Kate on the cheek. "I can't believe this is happening."

 "Come on Max, you call that a kiss? Here, let me show you how it's done." Chloe turns Kate's head to look up at her, but as she leans in she suddenly pauses.

Kate rolls her eyes, she places her hand on the back of Chloe's neck, and pulls her into a kiss. Kate closes her eyes, savoring the feeling of Chloe's chapped lips and the taste of oranges on them; she tangles her fingers in Chloe's hair as she rests her other hand on Chloe's cheek.

"Holy shit," Max whispers.

Kate pulls away from Chloe, she looks toward Max with slight grin. "Don't think I forgot about you." Kate takes her hands off Chloe, grabs the front of the tattered tank-top Max still wore, and pulled her into a hungry kiss. Kate lets go of Max's shirt to wrap her arm around Max's waist, pressing their bodies together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two songs that make me say "that's totally Kate"
> 
> I'm Coming Out by Diana Ross
> 
> Super Freak by Rick James


	7. Seattle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang make it to Seattle with a bright future ahead of them. However, not everyone is having fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to write something for their week in Portland, but then I decided against it, but it will be brought up. I'm putting dates now to help me keep track of the months and stuff.

**Five years ago, June 9, 2014**

"Max." A voice sings in her ear, and Max mumbles as she clings onto the warmth that was held against her chest. "Max, come on now, we're here."

"Hrmm, Kate?" Max sluggish lifts up her head, blinking the sleep from her eyes.

Kate's angelic smile breaks through the fuzziness of her vision. "Yup, Chloe is already getting our stuff inside. I'm sure she would like some help."

Max nods, and it takes her a moment to realize she had been practically curled up in Kate's lap; her legs throw across Kate's, her head had been resting on Kate's shoulder, and she held Kate's arm tightly against her chest. She quickly lets go as heat washes over her face. "Oh dog! Sorry Kate, you should've waken me up soon."

Kate giggles, she quickly leans in and steals a kiss. "I don't mind," she mumbles against Max's lips.

Something hits against the car door causing a loud-metallic thud, and it startles both of them; they look to the window and see the grinning face of Chloe. "Come on lovebirds, if you two can make out you can help me then."

Kate giggles again, a blush starting up on her cheeks. She gently takes Max's legs off her own, undoes her seat-belt, and Chloe opens the door to let her out. "Thanks Blue." Kate leans up and plants a kiss on Chloe's cheek.

"No problem, babe. Come on Maxi-Pad, your parents are dying to see you."

Max slides out of the truck, Chloe slams the door shut and then wraps her arm around Max's shoulders. "So, you got guest rooms here or are we bunking together?"

Max reaches up and tangles her fingers with Chloe's. "Hate to say it, Captain, but you'll be bunking with Kate in the guest room. My room will be Kate and Chloe free."

"Damn, that sucks for you, you'll be missing out on all of the cuddling action." Chloe leans down and rubs her nose against Max's temple. "We'll have to sneak into your room once in a while."

Max rolls her eyes and she pulls away from Chloe. "Shouldn't you be helping Kate?"

"Shit!" Chloe twists around and hurries off back toward the truck.

Max shakes her head as she heads into the house. She pauses to take off her shoes knowing how her mom hated it when people wore them inside; she set her sneakers beside her dad's boots. The living room hadn't changed a bit, expect for the fact that her mom finally got rid of the ugly lamp her dad had bought at a yard sale. Max went right through a doorway that lead into a hallway, a doorway across from her went into the kitchen. She sees two doors were open down the hallway, the door to her room and the guest room door.

"Mom? Dad?" Max calls out as she starts to walk down the hallway.

Her mom's head poked over the door of her room, and her dad appeared out of the guest room; both of their faces light up with smiles. "Max!"

Max grunts when she finds herself sandwiched in a hug; she reaches up the best she could and pats her parents' backs. "Love you guys too, but we saw each other just last week?"

Ryan pulls away first, a bright and proud smile on his bearded face. "It's not a crime to miss your kid even after a second of seeing them."

Vanessa lets go of the hug after a few more seconds, she smiles as she fixes Max's hair. "That's right, where's Kate and Chloe?"

"Mrs. Caulfield? Where's the guest room?"

They all turn to see Kate standing there, two big boxes stacked in her right arm, her violin case in the other hand, and Max's guitar case around her left shoulder. Max tries to help Kate with the boxes, but Kate refuses with a warm smile. "I've got it Max. The guest room?"

Ryan points with a silent expression of awe. Kate walks pass them with that warm, angelic smile, humming softly as she went.

"...You never told us Kate is strong." Ryan whispers.

"Oh, yeah. She could probably bench press me."

Chloe comes through the doorway with two suitcases, a slight grin on her face. "Hey Ryan, where can I put my drum set?"

Ryan looks to Chloe, and a wide grin stretches across his face. "In the garage, I cleaned it up yesterday for you girls."

"He means I cleaned it up." Vanessa said.

Kate comes out of the guest room only Max's guitar case with her. "Just got to grab the rest of our clothes and that should be it. I hope Alice didn't give you too much trouble, Mr. Caulfield, Mrs. Caulfield."

"She was an angel, just like you dear." Vanessa grins a bit seeing a pink tint to Kate's cheeks. "You girls go ahead and finish up moving in while I start dinner."

"I'll be watching TV if you girls need me." Ryan said, he kisses Max's forehead before going into the living room.

Max takes her guitar case from Kate. "We should unpack a little bit before dinner."

Chloe pouts and she throws her arms around Max's shoulders. "But Maaxxx! I don't want to." Chloe whines in Max's ear.

Max rolls her eyes. "You're not living out of your suitcase, Chloe, go unpack."

Chloe turns her begging eyes to Kate. "Sorry Chloe but I'm siding with Max on this."

"Fine, I'll go set up my drum in the garage." Chloe grumbles as she stalks off.

"I'll go help her," Kate said, "but I won't lie, I'm excited about this, living here with you two." Kate steps closer to Max, she runs her hands through Max's hair, she kisses Max slowly but she suddenly breaks away with wide eyes. "Wait, do your parents know we're dating?" Kate whispers, fear in her eyes.

Max nods in a sort of dazed state. "I gave them a call when we were in Portland. I figured they should know that my two very attractive girlfriends are living with us."

"Oh. Well, good then." Kate is smiling again, she leans in once again and kisses Max again, she places one hand on Max's neck while her other hand goes back to Max's hair. It was still a shock that Kate was the most physical in their relationship. Kate slightly tugs on Max's hair, and Max just barely keeps down a whimper. Kate pulls away slowly, a small smirk on her lips. "I'll be back soon, okay?"

Max just nods dumbly. Kate leaves with a giggle. Max stands there for a moment, staring at the doorway that Kate left through, but after a few minutes she realizes-with horror-that Kate just did _that_ while her parents where very close by in other rooms; she rushes to her bedroom, her cheeks on fire.

* * *

" _What?!_ "

Chloe cringes as she pulled the phone away from her ear, she gives herself a moment before hesitatingly putting the phone back to her ear. "Come on Rach, are you really that surprised?"

"No, I'm surprised you didn't tell me sooner!"

Chloe rolls her eyes as she leans against her truck. "Well sorry, I was enjoying a nice week in Portland with my girlfriends."

"...That's so cute. Fuck you."

"Sorry, but I'm taken."

"Isn't there enough room to squeeze in a sexy, blonde who knows how to play the bass?"

Chloe hums, an idea popping up in her head. "Now that's isn't a bad idea..."

"Huh? What? I was joking, Chloe, I don't wanna-"

"I know you were joking, I meant you could be our bassist!"

"...Chloe, you-" Rachel sighs, "-you know my dream is here in Cal, I-I can't leave...I'm sorry."

Chloe frowns, but she shakes her head and stands up straight, forcing a smile on her face even though no one was around. "Hey, it's okay. You're a bird Rach, and I ain't gonna clip your wings like that. I wanna see your beautiful face in fashion magazines just like I wanna see Max's photos in some fancy gallery."

"You're the best, you know that?"

Chloe chuckles. "I try my best. Anyways I should go, I still got to unpack and all that, talk to ya later?"

"Yeah, talk to ya later, Butterfly."

"Blue Jay."

Chloe hangs up, she lets out a sigh as she put her phone in her pocket. She stood there for a minute staring up at the darkening sky; she shakes her head and heads off toward Max's house. Until her phone gave out a bird chirp. She pulls it out to see a text message from Rachel.

**Rachel <3:** by the way, saw the vid of your last concert and i only got this to say. What the FUCK why are your girlfriends so hot???

**Chloe:** idk ask them

**Rachel <3: **you wont give me their numbers! >:(

**Chloe:** and let u flirt with them? Never. also no emoji

**Rachel <3: **D:< im INSULTED Chloe i would NEVER...i might tell Max she got a nice moan tho

**Chloe:** im blocking u

**Rachel <3: **i also love Kate's cursing, nice nice nice ;)

**Chloe:** fffuuuccckkkk yyyyoouuuu

**Chloe:** im telling them u said this shit

**Rachel <3: **CHLOE NO I WAS JOKING!!!

* * *

Victoria sighed heavily as she rubbed at her eyes, she wearily looked to her alarm clock and saw it was only ten o'clock, yet she was so tired. She looked back to the submissions that were sent in for this entire month, she still had a few dozen to look through. She shouldn't be doing this, this was her father's job not hers; but this was her future, wasn't it? Still, Victoria wanted to throw these damn folders into her father's face and tell him to do it himself; Chloe would have. It's only been a week and she already misses the damn idiot.

Victoria lets out another sigh as she leans back her chair. She puts the folder down for a moment, sulking in the silence. Frustration and anger boiled up in Victoria's chest as the minutes ticked by. She roughly stood up from her desk, her chair almost tipping over; she grabbed her laptop off the desk and went over to her bed. She opened her laptop once she was nice and comfortable; it didn't take long to get YouTube pulled up and found her favorite channel. Victoria put in her earbuds as the video started up.

_"Is it on? Come on she's starting!"_

_"I got it, I got it."_

_The camera zooms in and it takes a moment for it to focus on a lone figure sitting behind a piano. Saint Alice adjusts the mic in front of her before speaking._

_"He-hello, I'm Saint Alice, the violinist for Time Paradox." Only one or two people clapped, and Captain Blue cheers off camera. "We-we just started our career uh...um anyways, I'll be playing Piano Man by Billy Joel."_

_"Woo! You got this Alice!"_

_"Blue! Calm down!" Jane hisses from behind the camera._

Victoria relaxes as the beginning notes of the song started up; she slightly swayed to the music, softly singing along with Kate's voice. She wasn't too surprised that Alice could play the piano, it seemed like something Alice would enjoy playing. The audience seemed like they were now totally into Alice once she had started playing.

_"Damn, she's so beautiful, isn't she?"_

Victoria frowns. That voice-it couldn't be. Victoria could barely hear it over the music, but she knew that voice. "Chloe?"


	8. Regret's Music

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, luck stumbles upon you.

**Five years ago, June 16, 2014**

It was a long day, emotionally draining in the worst way for him. Work had been boring, his bar slow and barely a few people came in; just men coming in looking to drown themselves in their sorrows with a glass of scotch. It pissed Eric off.

He worked his damn ass off to get this bar open! He had opened it as a space for folks, both young and old, to come in and enjoy life; not for men who just wanted to whine about their girlfriend leaving them. Eric grumbles as he shrugged off his jacket and kicked off his boots. He walks pass the living room and headed up stairs, he quickly went to his daughter's door. Eric knocked three times, he waited until his daughter called him in.

"Lizzy?" Eric pokes his head into his daughter's room. "Whatcha up to, bug?"

His daughter, Elizabeth-or Lizzy as she prefers-pauses the music that had been blaring from her laptop; she was laying on her stomach, a book forgotten beside her. "Not much, just chilling. What up, old man?"

Eric chuckles as he enters Lizzy's room, he runs a hand through his purple dyed hair. "Ah, it was a slow day again, but I swear the Regret's Music will be a haven for all punks, young and old!"

Lizzy snorts, rolling her eyes as she plays her music again. "Whatever you say, dad."

Eric opened his mouth to argue that he would, but his attention is caught by the music. "Hey, this isn't bad. Who is that? I've never heard of them before."

"Of course you haven't, they're Time Paradox, they've only been around for a few months now."

Eric walks over and sits on the edge of the bed, he leans over Lizzy to get a better look at the screen. He raised an eyebrow seeing a young woman standing on a stage, dressed in tattered clothing and wearing a deer skull to hide her upper face. "Whoa, cool."

"That's Jane Doe, lead vocals and guitarist; the violinist is Saint Alice, and the drummer is Captain Blue."

Eric nods his head along with the music, a grin starting to form on his face. "These girls are good, really good, but it's a shame they don't have a bassist."

Lizzy shrugs her shoulders, she elbows Eric in the ribs to get him to sit back. "I like them just as they are." Lizzy sits up. "They're here in Seattle right now...Hey dad, if they have a concert will you take me?"

"Sure! Anything for you, bug." Eric quickly kisses Lizzy's temple, and chuckles at seeing her wrinkle up her nose. "Alright, I'll leave ya be, I gotta go make posters."

"For what?"

"I think I'm going to hire a local band to play at the bar, maybe some live music will bring in more of the younger crowd."

Lizzy perked up in interest. "Really? Can I help?"

Eric stands up from the bed. "Sure bug, I'm gonna cook dinner now, do you want to help with that too?"

"Nope." Lizzy grabbed the forgotten book and pretended she was reading it.

"That's what I thought."

* * *

**Five years ago, June 18, 2014**

Eric sighs, running his hands through his hair and slightly tugging at it. These bands sucked. They were all indie or whatever folk shit that seemly every kid liked these days; he was thankful Lizzy seemed to hate it as much as him since she was the one dismissing people so quickly.

"You call that guitar playing?! A dog could play more chords than you! Next!" Lizzy gestures for the four men to get off the stage, a sneer on her face.

"Honey, you're being a bit harsh."

"Am I? I think I'm being quite reasonable with the lack of talent we're getting." Lizzy grumbled as she looked down at her phone.

Eric sighs as he closed his eyes, he rubs at the bridge of his nose. Someone clears their throat and Eric reopens his eyes. "Sorry, who are-" Eric lets out a sharp gasp.

Three familiar girls stood on the small stage, the guitarist and violinist setting up while the drummer stood front and center. Lizzy looked up when she heard Eric gasp, her eyes widen and her phone falls from her slacken fingers.

"Whoa dude, hope that isn't broken." Captain Blue sounded ridiculous with her deepen voice, but Eric still found himself loving it. "Anyways we're Time-"

"We know who you are!" Lizzy jumps up from her seat, the chair falling over and hitting the floor with a loud bang. "I'm a huge fan, we both are, right dad?"

Eric looks between Blue and Lizzy with still in shock. "Uh...yeah."

Lizzy smiles brightly as she picks up the chair. "We're totally hiring them, right dad? I mean, we already know they're awesome, and I'm sure they'll bring in customers once word gets out they're playing here."

"Uh-"

"Perfect! You deal with the details and I'll chase off the losers." Lizzy started to shove and shout the other bands out of the door before Eric could say anything else.

He sighs heavily as he stands up. "I guess this means you're our new band, uh-welcome to Regret's Music."

Captain Blue chuckles as she jumps off the stage. "She seems like a handful."

Eric shrugs his shoulders. "Only with things or people she really likes. Come on you three, lets go to my office." Eric walks off toward a door near the stage that said 'employees only.'

"Uh are you really okay with this? You don't have to accept us." The violinist had spoken up, Saint Alice if he remembered correctly.

"It's totally okay, I've already heard some of your music and it's good. I should know, I used to be a talent agent."

"Holy shit, really?" Captain Blue comes up to his side. "Who did you work for?"

Eric opens the door which lead into a hallway. "Silver Labels."

He only heard two gasps. "Seriously?! They're one of the best record companies, you left them to open a bar?" Blue seemed to be the most talkative out of the three girls.

"Yeah." Eric shrugs his shoulders. They got to his office, he opens the door and leads them; his office was a mess of band posters and picture frames. He cringes slightly at the mess of papers on his desk. "Ah, sorry I only have two chairs."

"It's okay." Blue sits down and immediately pulls Alice onto her lap, Jane Doe sits down in the other chair-eerily quiet this whole time.

Eric sits down behind his desk, he looks over the girls with a slight frown. "Okay, so I have like mad respect for the whole 'hiding your identity' but I gotta know who you ladies are if I wanna hire you. Now I will keep your identities safe from the pubic if that's what you want, but you know, government has to know who's working for me."

Blue nods. "No, yeah, we totally understand. We knew when we came here we had to reveal who we are to you so...I'll start." Blue reaches up and pulls down the bandana and takes off her hat; she had blue hair clipped up to keep hidden under the hat, she removes the clips and let the long locks spill around her shoulders. "I'm Chloe Price."

Next was Alice, with the help of Chloe the bandages around her face were quickly removed revealing warm hazel eyes and a soft smile. "I'm Kate Marsh, it's nice to meet you."

Eric looked to Jane, who he now noticed was nervously fidgeting with the tattered remains of the t-shirt she wore. Chloe reached over and grabbed onto her hand, giving it a squeeze and her an encouraging smile. Jane sighed as she reached up with her free hand and removed the deer skull, her brown hair was messy and her blue eyes were pointed at the floor. "Maxine Caulfield, but call me Max, never Maxine."

"Well it's nice to meet you ladies, I'm Eric O'Neil, that lovely young woman you saw out there was my daughter, Elizabeth O'Neil but please call her Lizzy. We welcome you to Regret's Music and I give you the unfortunate gift of paperwork, if you girls can get it done by tomorrow or Friday that'll be great." Eric leans over his desk to hand them each a few sheets of paper.

"Alright, and when do you want us to start?" Chloe asked as she looked through the papers.

"This Saturday. I'm guessing you girls will be going to college, and I don't want this job to get in the way of your studies, but until then would Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays sound okay?"

Chloe grins widely. "Yeah man, and our hours?"

"We open at two in the afternoon and close at midnight, and depending on if it's a busy day or not you can go home early."

Chloe looks from Kate and Max. "Sounds good to you two?"

Kate nods. "Yup, sounds really fair to me."

"Yeah, I was expecting us to play the entire week, this is great." Max smiles.

"Awesome, you girls get that paperwork done and I'll see you soon." Eric smiles brightly, things were looking up for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapters are gonna be short for awhile, maybe.


	9. Just Another Day

**Five years ago, June 20, 2014**

Chloe groans lowly as she sluggishly came back to the waking world. She sighs and snuggles closer to the warmth that was held against her chest, she hears a giggle as she nuzzles her nose against the back of Kate's neck. A hand is placed on her thigh, she feels the body in her arms shift and then she feels soft lips against her own; she tries to deepen the kiss but those lips quickly disappear with another giggle.

"Morning Chloe." Kate's sweet voice whispers in her ear.

Chloe cracks open an eye and is greeted by the adorable sight of a bed-head Kate. "Morning bunny."

Kate untangles herself from Chloe's arms and legs, much to Chloe's displeasure which she made known by whining and moaning. "I know you want to cuddle, but we can't lay around all day." Kate looks at the alarm clock and her eyes widen for a moment. "Oh gosh, it's already ten. Huh, I wonder if Max is already up."

"Ha! Knowing that hippie she's probably still asleep." Chloe sits up in the bed, she yawns as she stretched her arms above her head. Letting her arms fall with a sigh she stands up. "I'm gonna wake up the dork."

Kate just hums, focused on picking out an outfit for the day. Chloe sluggishly walk out into the hallway, she lets out another yawn as she goes up to Max's door; she bangs on the door with the side of her fist.

"Yo Maxi-pad, time to get up," Chloe said. She waits for the answering groan Max usually gave, but she frowns when it doesn't come. "Max? You alive in there?" Chloe opens the door and peeks inside. The room was dark, but there was no Max in the unmade bed.

Chloe hurries to the kitchen in hopes of finding either Ryan or Vanessa. She luckily found both, Ryan leaning against the counter with a cup of coffee and Vanessa cooking breakfast. Ryan notices her first and he gives Chloe a wide grin.

"Morning Chloe, want a cup?" He gestures to the pot of coffee.

Chloe shakes her head as she looks around the kitchen, no Max in sight. "Hey, where's Max? She wasn't in her room."

Vanessa and Ryan share a quick glance. "She went out," Vanessa said, "she should be back soon."

"Did she say where?" Chloe narrows her eyes in suspicion.

"No." The parents said at the same time.

"You do know!" Chloe shouts pointing a finger at them.

Ryan chuckles. "Sorry Chloe but we swore our silence, you'll just have to wait until she gets home."

Chloe pouts, she turns around on her heel and marches back off to her shared room. Kate looks up from petting Alice, watching Chloe swing open the door and then slamming it close.

"Chloe? Are you okay?" Kate asks as she follows Chloe's movement.

"Max isn't home and her parents won't tell me where she went." Chloe flaps down onto the bed face first.

Kate puts Alice back in her cage, she gets to her feet, and she goes over and falls down beside Chloe. She reaches over and runs her fingers through Chloe's long locks. "Hey, don't worry. Maybe Max just went out to take some pictures or get some film. Did they say when she would come back?"

Chloe hums lowly, she wiggles closer to Kate. "Soon." Her voice is muffled by the blanket.

"See? Nothing to worry about. Now come on, go take a shower and get dressed, it'll make time go by faster."

Chloe turns her head to look at Kate; they share at each other for a few minutes in silence. Kate squeals when she suddenly feels cold fingers touch the skin of her hip.

"Chloe!"

Chloe jumps up from the bed giggling like a madman. She tries to escape the room, but she barely gets a foot away from the bed before she's being tackled to the floor by a smaller body. Fingers dig into her sides.

"Wait, Kate!" Those fingers start to move and instantly Chloe is reduce to a mess of shrieking laughter.

* * *

Kate hums softly as she drew in her sketchbook, a rough outline of two people holding hands. A soft knock on the door brings her attention away from the sketch; it couldn't have been Chloe since she had left just a minute ago to take a shower.

"Come in," Kate said as she turned back to her sketchbook.

The door slowly creaks open. "Kate? Where's Chloe?"

Kate perks up hearing Max's voice, she turns back around with a bright smile. "Max! We were won-" Kate gasps.

Max sheepishly stood in the doorway with a small smile, her hand rubbing at the back of her neck. Her hair was short-super short-the sides and back have been shaved to an inch and the top had been left long enough to be styled into a faux-hawk; she had dyed it a dark red.

"What do you think? I know it's a bit of a dramatic change but I had been wanting to dye it for a while now, and I figured I tried a new hairstyle since Chloe has been letting her hair grow out...Kate?" Max trails off in her rambling as Kate slowly rises from her chair.

Kate takes measured steps toward Max, her face unnervingly blank. Max gulps, she tries to say something but she only gets out a squeak as Kate grabs the front of her shirt. Kate leans in close, her leg snaking in between Max's legs to close the door with her foot; Max immediately finds her back being pressed against that door.

"I love it." Kate whispers, her hand running along the right side of Max's head.

"Re-really? You kind of scared me for a second there." Max lets out a soft chuckle, enjoying the feeling of Kate petting her hair.

Kate's cheeks turn a bit pink. "Sorry, I kind of got...you look really uh, gosh um...oh dang it! You look hot!" Kate's cheeks quickly went from pink to red, the blush going up to her ears.

Max's neck and face were as equally red. "Oh um wowser," Max clears her throat, "thanks Kate. Do you think Chloe will like it?"

"She's gonna love it Max, probably even more than me." Kate takes a step away from Max.

Max reaches out for Kate her hands landing on Kate's hips; Kate takes another step back and Max follows her. The moment Kate's legs hit the bed she throws her arms around Max's neck and falls back; Max yelps as she lands on top of a giggling Kate. Max puts her hands against the bed and lifts herself up a bit.

"Geez Kate! I could've hurt you!"

Kate rolls her eyes, she places one of her hands on the back of Max's head. "I'm fine, Max, you're as light as a feather." Kate pushes Max's head down so their faces were closer. "You and Chloe worry too much."

Max grins a little. "Last night you told Chloe and me to go to bed at ten."

"Your parents were sleeping and you two were being loud! I didn't want them to get upset." Kate pouts as she plays with Max's hair.

"My parents sleep like the dead, trust me." Max slowly rests her body on top of Kate's. "Is this okay? Are you sure I'm not crushing you?"

Kate moves her arms and wraps them around Max's waist. "Light as a feather." Kate leans her head up and catches Max's bottom lip with a kiss.

Max nudges Kate's arms away to take off her jacket, doing her best not to break the kiss as she does. Once the jacket is off Kate's arms are back around Max, her fingertips slowly moving up and down along Max's spine; Max buries her fingers in Kate's hair. They lose themselves to each others' touch.

Kate breaks away, both of them panting for air. Max only takes a second before she's planting kisses along Kate's jaw; she trails down Kate's neck. Max nibs Kate's neck softly, and she almost jolts back when Kate moans.

Kate's fingers curl into Max's t-shirt, Max could feel her fingernails through the fabric. "Again. Harder." Kate is breathless.

Max pulls away a little. "You...want me to bite you?"

Kate nods, her head tilted away with her eyes closed. Max leans back down, she hesitates for a moment before placing her mouth back on Kate's neck. Nervous, she doesn't bite down yet just kisses a racing pulse, but then Kate's tugging on her shirt and she knows she can't delay; Kate asked and it's not like Max actually wanted to hurt her. So Max bites, softly at first but Kate mutters "harder," and Max puts more press and more and more until Kate is groaning loudly and squirming. Max worries for a second a mark is going to be left behind, but that worry is quickly wiped from her mind when Kate moans her name.

* * *

Chloe was in the middle of brushing her teeth when her phone like out bird chirp. She sighs, foam sputtering out and hitting the mirror. She grabs her phone off the back of the toilet and unlocked it to see the text.

**Rach <3: **wha you doing??

Chloe lets go of her toothbrush to quickly text back.

**Chloe:** making sure i smell nice for the gfs

**Rach <3: **you just showered?

Chloe doesn't reply back just yet, she finishes brushing her teeth first; by the time she was done her phone chirped three more times.

**Rach <3: **chloe?

**Rach <3: **CHLOE

**Rach <3: **...did you drop your phone in the toilet again???

**Chloe:** i was brushing my teeth and yes i showered

**Chloe:** and no im not sending u a nude

**Rach <3: **...you know me too well

**Chloe:** indeed i do

Chloe leaves the bathroom with a slight smirk, and she goes back to her room, she looks up from her phone as she opened the door. "Hey Kate, did-" she froze up as her brain suddenly stopped working.

Max whipped around looking like a deer caught in headlights, it was a bit of a funny image with Kate laying under Max with her blouse wide open and her face flushed. Chloe slowly took a few more steps into the room before closing the door with her foot. She pulled her eyes away from the scene to her phone.

**Chloe:** im gonna talk to u later

Chloe looks back up to her girlfriends to see Max was now standing with her head bowed sheepishly, and Kate was buttoning up her blouse; Chloe just barely catches sight of teeth mark and hickeys on Kate's collarbone. Chloe takes a slow, deep breath before whispering. "What the fuck happened to your hair, Max?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo, if you guys see fanart of this story, or make fanart for this, please tell me so I can cry in gratitude. Thanks.


	10. All Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First day on the job, and the girls get a surprise.

**Five years ago, June 21, 2014**

"Hey, mind if I sit with you?"

Victoria had been a bit hesitate to go to the Regret's Music; first off, the name was stupid, and second, it was a bar made for a punk crowd. Taylor has told her about the stories of mosh pits and drunk men looking for a quickie in the bathroom, but that didn't seem like the case here. It was a pretty chill crowd of people in their early twenties, but there were a few men and women who looked older and like they've been in the punk scene for their entire lives. So Victoria had calmed down and had taken a small booth on the left side of the room that had a nice view of the stage; she had almost felt comfortable until that voice.

Victoria felt her throat tighten up as she stared up at the most gorgeous girl she's ever seen. The girl tilted her head, her long blonde hair spilling over her shoulder, the blue feather earring jingling with the movement. Victoria felt her cheeks heat up when she realized she's been staring instead of giving an answer.

"Yes, sure." Victoria gestures with a stiff arm to the seat across from her; she takes a quick sip of her ice tea in hopes to wet her dry throat.

"Thanks." The girl slips into the seat with an effortless grace, flicking her blonde hair over her shoulder; Victoria takes a longer sip this time. The girl flashs Victoria a grin as she leans an elbow on the table. "So, what brings a girl like yourself to a bar like this?"

Victoria sits up in her seat. "Excuse me? What's that supposed to mean?" She's glad she could so easily slip into her old bitchy self even when faced with such a beautiful girl.

The girl didn't flinch though, she just chuckled and gestured to Victoria with a lazy flick of her wrist. "I mean, if no one looked closely enough the denim jacket and t-shirt makes you blend in well, but I know better. Perfectly styled hair, too much makeup, gold bracelets; not very punk if you asked me."

Victoria crosses her arms as she gives the girl a icy glare. "Whatever, I don't have to fucking tell you why I'm here."

"You're right, you don't. I was just curious, but I think I can take a guess. Came to see Time Paradox, right?" The girl rests her chin on the palm of her hand. "Nice shirt, by the way."

Victoria tugs on her jacket a bit, trying to cover up the Time Paradox shirt she wore. "Yeah I'm a fan."

The girl smirks. "I can tell. I wish I could have gone to the concert."

"You're a fan too?"

"Yup, how about I introduce myself?" The girl sits up, taking her left arm off the table and holds out her right hand. "Rachel, Rachel Amber."

Victoria frowns as she takes and shakes Rachel's hand; it takes her a moment to realize why that name was so familiar. "Wait, you're Chloe's friend! The one that lives in Long Beach!"

Rachel's eyes widen. "You know me?"

"Yeah! Fucking Christ Chloe never shuts up about you, she even showed me a few pictures of you. I was wondering why you looked so familiar; your pictures do you no justice."

Rachel raises an eyebrow, a sly smirk slowly stretches out across her face. "Wait a minute, you must be Victoria then. Damn, your pictures do you no justice, and this lighting isn't the best."

Victoria scoffs slightly. "You can say that again...Why are you here? Shouldn't you be in California trying to become a model? Which, honestly, I'm surprised you haven't achieved yet."

"Hah! Oh-wow." Rachel giggles, and Victoria wasn't too sure but it looked like Rachel's cheeks turned pink. "Chloe really does talk, doesn't she? I'm visiting for a bit, I decided if they couldn't come down to Long Beach then I would come up to Seattle."

Victoria nods. "Alright, but what are you doing _here_? Shouldn't you be surprising them?"

Rachel reaches up and fiddles with her earring. "Well, you said it yourself, I'm a fan of Time Paradox. How could I resist seeing them live?"

The noise suddenly rose a bit in the bar. Victoria looks away from Rachel and she felt her heart beat pick up seeing Chloe-well Captain Blue-up on stage; after a minute Kate and Max joined her. It was so weird to think meek Max Caulfield could be so bold and rough, and Kate! Victoria thought she was gonna have a stroke when she watched Kate's performance during the concert again.

Max stepped up to the mic stand as she put her guitar around her shoulder. "How's everyone doing tonight?" A few cheers rose up, mostly from the younger crowd-Rachel being one of them. "Glad to hear it, if you already don't know we're Time Paradox. I'm Jane Doe. On drums is the terror of the Seven Seas, Captain Blue."

"You all ready to rock?!"

Max chuckles softly. "And on violin is our very own angel from heaven, Saint Alice."

Kate simply curtsies, a shy smile blooming onto her lips when a few guys in the crowd whistle.

"We'll be starting off with one of our own song, I hope you enjoy it." Max looks back to Chloe and gave her a nod.

The beginning notes of Black Castle filled the room, and Victoria watched as Rachel started to bounce in her seat. A large smile blossomed on Rachel's face as Max began to sing, Rachel sung along her voice having a smokey quality to it, it reminded Victoria of a jazz singer almost. Victoria sighs softly as she sunk down a bit in the booth seat, a tiny smile taking up her lips as she closed her eyes and soaked in Max's and Rachel's voices; they sounded great together.

* * *

Chloe let out a noise of relief as she unpinned her hair, the long locks of blue spilling over her shoulders and back in slight curls. Max was muttering small curses as she rubbed away the black makeup that took up most of her neck and lower face. Kate hums softly as she undid her braid, sitting on the love seat that Eric put in their little dressing room.

They did good-no, they were amazing! Sure it wasn't the same wild energy of their concerts, but people were cheering and clapping at the end of every song; and during their first break they were swarmed by the younger crowd for photos and questions. This was really gonna help them in the long run, the more people that saw and talked about the better chance some talent agent hears about them. They can do this, Chloe knows they're good enough for the music world.

Three knocks on the door has them all freeze up; Kate was pretty much out of costume, Max had no shirt on and her deer head was no where in sight. Chloe fumbles as she quickly throws her hair up into a sloppy bun before shoving her hat on and tying her bandana back on. The person knocks again just as Chloe reaches the door, Chloe cracks open the door a little bit so only she's visible.

"Listen, we aren't-RACHEL?!"

Rachel Amber smirks as she brushes a lock of hair back over her shoulder. "Yeah, I know you guys aren't Rachel, but I don't blame you for wishing you were. I'm quite perfect after-all."

Chloe throws open the door and pulls Rachel into a tight hug. Rachel giggles as she returns the hug, breathing in the scent of sea salt that seemed to always linger on Chloe's skin. Chloe pulled away slowly, she nudges Rachel further into the room before closing the door.

"Rach, what are you doing here? When did you get here?" Chloe asks.

Rachel smirks. "That doesn't matter right now, what I'm interested in is these two cuties." Rachel winks at Max and Kate.

Kate had gotten up from the love seat, her cheeks a light pink; Max stared with her mouth slightly opened. Chloe rolls her eyes as she sits up to stand beside Rachel.

"You know who they are, Rach. Guys, this is my pen pal and good friend, Rachel Amber who should be in Long Beach right now, not Seattle."

"Come on, Che, can't I visit my best friend in the whole world." Rachel bats her eyelashes and flashs Chloe a dazzling smile; that would have broken most people, but Chloe is a woman with two girlfriends who are masters of the puppy dog stare.

"No."

Rachel's cheeks puff out as she pouts. "Asshole."

"Yup, so tell the truth." Chloe takes off her hat and places it on Rachel's head.

Rachel adjusts the hat, once she was done she gave Chloe a little pose and an raised eyebrow; Chloe gives a thumbs up and a wide grin. "Okay. So the truth." Rachel takes off the hat and plays with the white feather that sticks out of it. "Some shit has been going on lately and I...I just needed to get away for awhile, go somewhere where I felt happy; so naturally I came to you."

Chloe turns her head away a bit, her grin turning shy; after a moment she pulls Rachel into another hug, this one far more gentler. "Hey, it's okay, I just wanted to know you were okay."

Rachel nods her head against Chloe's chest. "I will be, I'll probably stay a week before going back home. Don't want to worry the parents too much."

"I hear that, but hey, stay for as long as you want...if-if Max's parents are okay with that, would they be okay with that?"

Max shrugs her shoulder. "I'll ask them, but they should be if it's just a week."

Rachel pulls away from Chloe and turns toward Max. "Thanks, I'm sorry for dropping in out of the blue, but I live for the dramatics."

Max chuckles. "Yeah, Chloe has told us a lot about you."

"She apparently talks about me to everyone. I met Victoria in the bar and the moment I said my name she knew who I was. She seems like a stick in the mud, but she is cute." Rachel walks up to Max and grabs one of the makeup remover wipes. "Here, let me help you, I know the pain of removing makeup. Black is a bitch to clean off."

"Of course Vic was here." Chloe had moved over to the love seat where her change of clothes were; she took off her shirt and tried to ignore the way Kate watched her. "I'm surprised she didn't come over during one of the breaks to talk to us."

Rachel was softly rubbing away the black makeup from Max's throat, smirking slightly as she saw more and more freckles become visible. "Oh yeah, she's a freak for you guys."

Chloe snorts as she tugs a shirt over her head, she starts to wiggle out of her leather pants, but pauses when she feels two hands slide over her hips onto her hands. "Let me help," Kate breaths in her ear.

Rachel raises an eyebrow as she watches Chloe try not to choke on air as Kate tugs down her pants. "Huh, so Katie is the dom in this relationship. That's...really hot." A look of confusion passes over Rachel's face for a moment before she shrugs it off with a cheeky smile. "I'm so jealous, Che, maybe there's room for me in this harem."

"Shut the fuck up!" Chloe was almost red to the roots of her hair. "And it's not a harem!"

Rachel looks at Max with a wicked grin. "Isn't she just so cute when she's flustered?"

Max was red in the face too, the freckles on her cheeks standing out even more. "Ye-yeah."

"Gosh, you all are just too adorable." Rachel giggles and starts to rub away the makeup on Max's jaw.


	11. Won't You Stay for Awhile?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max and Kate spend some time with Rachel.

**Five years ago, June 22, 2014**

Kate hums lowly as her mind sluggishly awoke from a dream she has already forgotten. She reaches out and grabs her phone as she sat up, she turns off the piano music that played as her alarm. There's muttering beside her, a bit shifting, and fingertips lightly dig into her belly. Kate giggles softly as she leans down and places a kiss against Max's temple, she carefully removes Max's arm from her waist before slipping out of the bed.

It was decided that Rachel would take up the guest room with Chloe since none of them wanted her sleeping on the couch. Kate herself had no problem with the arrangement, though she wasn't too sure about Max's feelings. Honestly, they all had agreed they would keep open minds if one of them had found themselves interested another person and wanted to started a relationship outside of their own. Rachel has been there for Chloe the five years Max had gone M.I.A in Seattle; Kate would be surprised if Chloe didn't have some romantic feelings for Rachel. Kate shakes her head, her thoughts were getting away from her; the point is she trusts Chloe to tell them if something was going on between Rachel and her.

Kate quietly creeps out of Max's room, gingerly shutting the door behind her. She headed toward the kitchen wanting to eat before she took a shower, but she froze in the doorway of the kitchen. Rachel was at the stove putting a slice of bread in a pan, Kate could barely hear her soft humming over the sizzling of butter. Kate wasn't sure what to do, she found herself fumbling to handle Rachel's casual flirting and effortless charm, she was dreading to be alone with the older girl.

Before Kate could even make her presence known-Rachel looks over her shoulder with a small smile and dark circles under her eyes. "Hey Kit-Kat, you want some french toast?"

And just like that it seemed like the spell was broken, Rachel's tired eyes setting Kate at ease. "Sure, thank you," Kate gives a warm smile without effort. "I'm surprised to see you're up, I'm the only one who gets up early on Sunday."

"Yeah, Chloe told me, I thought I would get up and make you some breakfast before you headed out." Rachel flips the french toast, a loud sizzle to let Kate know the other side is now cooking. "I also made you some tea, black tea with some sugar, right?"

"Uh-yes, how did you-"

"Max, I asked her. Chloe says you two have little tea dates-which is so cute by the way-so I figured she had an idea on what you like. How much french toast do you want?" Rachel moves away from the stove as she talks, her steps light and graceful like a dancer's, she gets out the butter and the syrup bottle. "I can't believe they don't have powder sugar," Rachel mutters, Kate just barely catching her words.

Kate looks away from Rachel long enough to finally see the mug of tea on the dinning room table. "Just one is fine." The dinning room was tiny and shared an open floor space with the kitchen; Kate goes over and sits at the table.

Rachel is at the stove again, putting a second slice of bread in the pan. "I'm making you two, and don't try to argue with me; I know you prefer two."

"Did you ask Chloe and Max to tell you everything about me?" Kate feels warm in the face and she hopes it doesn't show.

"Not everything, I would like to learn some things on mine own."

They fall silent, Rachel humming softly once more while Kate sips on her tea. Kate loses track of how many minutes pass by before Rachel is gliding into the room, she sets down a plate with two slices of french toast on it. Rachel goes back into the kitchen without a word, and then she returns with her own plate and syrup bottle; she gives the bottle to Kate. They eat in silence, which was surprising since Kate had expected Rachel to make conversation; instead they just ate and enjoy the peaceful morning.

It wasn't until they were both then Rachel stretched her arms above her head then stood up. "Alright, you go on and get cleaned up, I'll take care of these dishes."

"Oh no, let me-"

"Nope!" Rachel presses a finger against Kate's lips. "Hush that pretty little mouth and get that cute butt moving."

Rachel draws her hand away, but then she grabs Kate by the shoulders and turns her around. Kate squeaks when Rachel smacks her butt, she hurries off toward the bathroom with a burning face.

* * *

**Monday, June 23, 2014**

Max sighs running her hand along the shaved sides of her head, tapping a restless beat on her notebook. The page she was staring at was blank, though if you got close enough you could see the faint remains of erased words. Max snarls lowly and she was tempted to just throw the notebook aside.

"What's got your panties in a twist?"

Max practically jumps out of her skin, her pencil flying out of her hand. "Jesus!"

"Sorry, but I'm not Kate," Rachel plops down beside Max, "it's just little ol' me."

"H-hey Rachel," Max mutters, she picks her pencil off the floor and settles back in her chair. "Did you need something?"

Rachel frowns a bit as she looks at the blank notebook page. "Nope, just seeing what you were doing. Are you trying to write a song?"

Max snorts as she glares down at the page. "Trying being the key word here."

"Don't think about it so hard," Rachel said, a slight smirk on her face, "just, write."

Max's brow furrows as she turns to look at Rachel. "About what? I just can't randomly write a song, Rachel, I...I want it to mean something."

"And it will mean something!" Rachel reaches out and takes the pencil out of Max's hand. "Just relax a bit...Why are you even writing a song? I mean, I get it, you wanna have your own songs, but why are _you_ writing them?"

"What?"

Rachel rolls her eyes as she now takes Max's notebook. "Chloe, she hasn't written anything yet, why?"

Max's eyes widen a bit. "Oh, uh she told us she didn't want to, and since we came up with the rule that we have to sing the songs we wrote ourselves she really doesn't want to write a song."

"Of course," Rachel mutters, a slight scowl appearing on her face. "I guess I'll be having a talk with Chloe then."

"What? Why? Chloe isn't doing anything wrong, we're not gonna force her-"

"Max, you abandoned Chloe for five years, that kind of shit builds up." Max's mouth closes with a loud click of her teeth hitting. "I keep telling her to write that shit out, but apparently she really doesn't listen to me."

Rachel's eyes darken, the green standing out against the brown. "I've been there for Chloe for four years, I've had to hear her complain and cry about you breaking her heart and trust by leaving her at the very moment she needed you the most. Now, I made Chloe understand it wasn't your fault you had to leave, that was on your parents, but what was your fault was fucking dropping her like a sack of bricks."

"I didn't-"

"No no no, let me talk, because I've been waiting four fucking years to talk to you Maxine Caulfield." Rachel snarls, and Max quickly shuts her mouth again. "I don't hate you, really I don't, but what you did was fucked up. I know you had your reasons, Chloe told me them, but that doesn't excuse your ass, especially with me; so listen real fucking close Maxine Caulfield." Rachel snatches Max by the front of her shirt and pulls her close until their noses almost touch. "If you hurt Chloe in any way again, I will kill you and no one will ever find the body."

Max slowly nods, terror clearly written across her face.

Rachel suddenly smiles brightly as she lets go of Max. "Good," she stands up, "it was nice talking with you, Max, I'll see ya later."


	12. Jazz Songs for the Punk

**Five years ago, June 27th, 2014**

"What do you mean you're both sick!?"

Rachel winces slightly as hearing Chloe's shrieking voice. Rachel gets up from the couch with a small huff and walks out of the living room toward Max's room; she knocks on the door before entering. Max and Kate sat the bed with frowns; Kate's cheeks flush red and the dark circles under her eyes were like fresh bruises, Max was looking better, but she still couldn't get a word out of her mouth without sounding like a chain smoker. Chloe paces restlessly in front of them, her hands tugging at her hair.

"Chloe?" Rachel looks uncertainly between the three girls. "Everything okay in here?"

"No!" Chloe whips around, her chest heaving. "It was okay when it was just Max who lost her voice, but now Kate can't sing either! We're gonna have to call off of work until they both get better, Eric is gonna be pissed!"

Rachel fully walks into the room, closing the door with her foot, she goes up to Chloe and grabs her hands. "Chloe, babe, look at me." Chloe's eyes met hers. "It's going to be okay, you need to calm down. Deep breaths Chloe, come on follow me. In. Out."

Chloe breathes in slowly and then out, she does so for about a minute before stopping. "I'm fine, I'm fine...Sorry, Katie, Max, I didn't mean to freak out like that."

"It's okay," Kate croaks out. Max just silently nods.

Chloe sighs as she rubs her face with her hands, she drops her arms back down at her sides as she smiles softly as them. "Get some rest you two, I'll go call Eric and let him know we won't be showing up to work for a few days."

Chloe leaves the room, and Rachel follows after her closing Max's door softly. Rachel gently takes Chloe's hand and takes them to the guestroom; Rachel doesn't say anything until the door is shut and Chloe is sitting on the bed.

"I'll sing for you."

Chloe blinks owlishly up at Rachel. "What?"

"Don't call off work, you and I can play until they're better." Rachel sits down beside Chloe, a slight smile on her lips. "We'll be like The White Stripes, expect I'm playing bass instead of guitar."

"What?! Rach, no, you can't. You have to go back home tomorrow, you don't have to-"

"I want to." Chloe's mouth closes with a clink of her teeth. Rachel reaches out and takes Chloe's hand. "This is important to you, and...and I want to be apart of that, even if I can't stay forever I can at least stay for a bit longer, until Max and Kate get better."

"Rachel..."

Rachel shifts until she's kneeling on the bed, she brings her free hand up to rest on Chloe's cheek. "You're so important to me, Chloe, you're my best friend, you're...you're more than that...Do you ever think about that night?"

Chloe slowly nods. "All the time, but Rachel-"

Rachel stops Chloe by moving her fingers onto her lips. "I know, I know. You're with Kate and Max, but I don't think I've missed my chance, not yet." Rachel grins widely, making Chloe's heart melt. "So, I'm gonna help out my best friend, and don't argue with me, Chloe! We both know I can kick your ass."

Chloe chuckles weakly under those fingers, she purses her lips and kisses them lightly. Rachel draws back her hand, she leans in, but hesitates at her nose bumps against Chloe's. "Can we...just this once? It...it wouldn't hurt, right? You're in a poly relationship, and you'll have to tell them at some point so-"

Chloe cuts off Rachel's rambling with a soft kiss. It takes a second before Rachel returns the kiss, their lips slowly moving against each other; Rachel buries her fingers in Chloe's hair, while Chloe places her hands on Rachel's hips. Chloe falls back on the bed, pulling Rachel down to rest fully on top of her. They allow themselves this moment as memories of a late night came flooding back, drowning out their worries for now.

* * *

Victoria sighs as she rubs at her eyes, she was absolutely exhausted and wanted nothing more but to full into her bed; but she couldn't bring herself to do that. The bar was surprisingly packed, mainly a younger crowd, but it seems the older punks were enjoying Time Paradox as much as the youths; Victoria smiles a bit, pride filling up her chest for her favorite losers. Victoria perks up a bit when she notices Chloe getting onto the stage, and then her eyes widen a bit seeing an unfamiliar figure join Chloe.

The girl looked like a flapper from the nineteen-twenties; her navy blue dress glittering in the low lights of the bar, black velvet gloves that went up to her elbows, and black heels that could kill a man. Her blond locks were pulled up into a elegant knot of curls, drawing attention to her slender neck and shoulders, a necklace of opals and moonstones resting on her collarbones. A realistic raven mask hid most of her face expect for her smirking, blood red lips.

Chloe settles herself down at the drums, while this girl grabs the only other instrument up on the stage-a bass guitar, painted a navy blue with swirls of white running across the body. The girl walks up to the mic as she tests a few of the strings on the bass, making sure it was tuned correctly; satisfied after a few more plucks the girl looks up from the strings and speaks.

"Well, while this isn't the glitz and glam I'm used to, I'm still more than happy to be singing for you all tonight." The girl's voice was husky, her words slow and sensual. "My name is Raven Anderson. My dear friends, Jane and Alice are sadly feeling under the weather so Jane brought me over for a time until Alice and her feel better. Now I must warn you, I don't really sing punk music, but for you all I'm willing to step out of my comfort zone. So, here are jazz songs for the punk."

Raven glances back at Chloe, they share a nod before Raven looks back forward; the familiar opening notes of _Seven Nation Army_ was a bit of a surprise, and yet a perfect song choice for the two instruments. Raven opens her mouth, and Victoria melts back in her seat; Raven's voice was befitting for jazz music, a smokey contralto that Victoria could image singing along to a saxophone. Victoria was pleased to see they didn't really change up the song to fit for the bass, they just played the song like the guitar had always been a bass.

While they did stick to songs that would sound good with just drums and a bass, the crowd was absolutely loving it-they were loving Raven and the new sound she brought. By the end of the night, just as Victoria was leaving, it suddenly hit her who Raven was. Rachel Amber. Victoria shakes her head and snorts softly; Rachel Amber-Raven Anderson.

"I'm surrounded by idiots."


	13. Goodbye for Now

**Five years ago, June 30th, 2014**

"Do you really have to go?" Chloe slowly runs her fingers through Rachel's hair, hoping it won't take another year for her to feel it once more again.

Rachel buries her face further against Chloe's neck, closing her eyes for a moment and wishing she didn't have to let go. "Yeah, I got a dream waiting back home for me."

Chloe hums lowly; Rachel isn't sure if she's glad or disappointed that Chloe said nothing more on the topic. Chloe hums again, but it isn't an aimless sound but rather an unfamiliar tune; Chloe's hand moves from Rachel's hair to her shoulder, and her fingers tap along with the soft humming. Rachel can't help the smile that slowly curls up her lips, she opens her mouth to ask what song it is.

" _Well babe, I've just gotta say,_  
_that I haven't felt a sting like this in a long, long time._  
_But hey, that's okay._  
_You're a bird that's gotta fly._ "

Rachel made a move to sit up, but Chloe stops her by giving her shoulder a slight push. Rachel huffs, but she settles back down against Chloe, resting her head on Chloe's chest and listening to the racing of her heart and the rasp of her voice.

" _I'll just sit here awhile,_  
_waiting for a message that says I'm going wild,_  
_and I'll know you'll be coming back my way soon._ "

" _This isn't goodbye forever, just goodbye for now,_  
_like all those times before._  
_Maybe one day you won't say goodbye anymore,_  
_but until that day,_  
_I'll just keep missing you more and more._ "

Rachel's vision starts to blur and her eyes are stringing as tears threat to spill down her cheeks.

" _It may sound pathetic, but if you gave me a call,_  
_asking to come down to your beaches,_  
_Baby, I would be there in an instant._ "

" _I know that's cruel of me,_  
_I already have two lovers here with me._  
_Baby, does that make me a cheat?_ "

" _This isn't goodbye forever, just goodbye for now,_  
_like all those times before._  
_Maybe one day you won't say goodbye anymore._  
_Maybe one day we'll be sitting together,_  
_on a sunny shore._ "

Chloe's voice drifts off slowly, her heart still pounding against her chest, and she's trying her best to ignore the wetness on her collarbone. Chloe tenses up when Rachel sits up and meets Chloe's gaze, tear stains on her cheeks; Chloe reaches up and wipes them away. Rachel leans down and kisses along Chloe's jaw, to her chin, and nibbles on Chloe's bottom lip.

"I'm guessing you liked the song then?" Chloe asks breathless, grinning like a fool.

Rachel rolls her eyes as she moves to straddle Chloe's hips. "It's nice, but could use a bit of work."

Chloe moves her hands to Rachel's waist. "Well lucky me, it isn't finished yet."

"I can't wait to hear it when it is."

This time Chloe leans up on her elbows as Rachel leans down. As they lose themselves to each other, they never noticed the gentle closing of the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been a long time, but I hit a block with this story and was having trouble getting over it. I finally decided to go with something short to end Rachel's arc, and hopefully it won't take me forever to get the next chapter up. We'll just have to see.


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